Dreams of Passion turned into Reality
by Zowieyaoi
Summary: Dream have a stronger hold on us than we think. Dreams can even tell us who our Soulmates are. Naruto has yet to have seen that dream, but he hopes to. So in the meantime he does his best to help others find their Soulmates as the son of the 4th Hokage. Problem is, it's not his job. It's the job of the Dream Empath. Rating it actually between T and M
1. Chapter 1: How it all Began

**ZY** : Okay, I admit, I get sidetracked real easily. I'll get back to my other stories (aka, Heart of Chocolate and Touch of Blue and Red. Maybe Magical Girl of the End in Eternia if my stomach's up too it...) This has Yaoi so if you don't like it, just hit the back button. And If you didn't like this story, you don't have to read it. Anyway, funny story about this idea for this plot, it was a dream... Yeah... Okay... to the story.

"Talking or Quotations"

'Thinking'

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Finding your Soulmate through Dreams AU.

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Dreams of Passion turned into Reality, Chapter 1; How it all Began

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Dreams were a powerful thing. Even though they only appear when you sleep, they have a strong hold of you even when you're awake. Your actions, perceptions, and who your soulmate is.

In this world, when you have dreams of you having very passionate and intimate sex with the same person for Seven Consecutive Dreams in a row, that person is your soulmate. These Soulmate Dreams, as they are called, appear after a person turns 15-years-old. No one knows why the Soulmate Dreams happen at this time, some speculate that it might be hormones while others believe that the age of 15 is the time for a person to start looking for their soulmate.

Every teen approaching the age of 15 hopes to have their Soulmate Dreams soon so they have a chance to see the person that they are meant to be with. Even teenagers that are training to become Shinobi hope to have their Soulmate Dreams. Despite the dangers of the Shinobi lifestyle, the hope of finding their soulmate is as true as could be.

}i{ }i{ The Beginning of the Story }i{ }i{

15 years ago, the Nine-Tailed Fox Demon suddenly appeared in Konoha. It terrorized the village for an entire week, killing thousands of people. Friends, family members, and soulmates were brutally taken away from their loved ones because of this demon.

The Fox Demon was finally was defeated, thanks to the efforts of the 4th Hokage of Konoha. But in order to defeat the Nine-Tailed Fox Demon, the 4th Hokage had to seal it within his newborn son, who literally just had his umbilical cord cut.

Only a handful of people in Konoha knew this, and all of them swore to keep THAT a Konoha hidden secret. This included the 4th Hokage and his soulmate, Kushina. The only things that they hoped for was for the tiny baby to live as normal of a life as possible, and for him to find his soulmate.

The village slowly recovered after the Nine-Tails. And the baby grew, not knowing of the deep, dark secret that he harbored.

As the years continued to the present, the number of people who knew about the true fate of the Nine-Tails shrank until there there was only five left.

Now that baby walks the path of the Shinobi, just like his parent. He hopes one day he will become the next Hokage, just like his father.

His 15th birthday is coming up. And he hopes that his Soulmate Dreams will be his birthday present. Not much different from any other 14-year-old.

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But, until then... Let's look in on someone else's Soulmate Dreams.

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In unknown location, two bodies were intertwining.

Callus hands wondered over porcelain skin. Those hands bringing sparks of sensation upon the one with the pale skin. Moans passed through a pair of thin lips. The callus fingers pinched a pink nipple on the smooth pale skin, causing the owner to gasped in pleasure. The owner of the callused hands smirked. He was a 15-year-old teenage boy with black hair in a bowl-cut style, relatively thick black eyebrows, round black eyes, wasn't wearing any clothing, so you could see that he was somewhat tanned, well muscled, and was relatively tall. His name was Rock Lee.

"Sensitive huh?" Lee stated seductively as he started to play with that nipple on the pale chest, making the owner moan for him to stop and squirm a bit. Lee smirked, licked one of the nipples, and said "Really now, how can I stop when you're making all those delectable sounds?" The one with the pale skin's eyes shot open.

Those eyes were a pale lotus purple. Long brownish-black hair was cascading over his shoulders. He tensed up when Lee started sucking. Lee, in turn, flinched at his partner's sudden stiffness, then he smirked. "Wow, Neji, you're really squeezing me tight," Lee said before he kissed Neji's flushing cheek, grabbed his hips, and then thrusted his hips forward, causing his harden penis to burry itself deep into the other and making the other gasp in pure pleasure. Neji brought a hand to his face to try to cover his redding cheeks and stuttered out "S-s-stop s-s-saying such l-l-lewd t-things... It's... Un-Unbecoming..." Licking his lips, Lee thrusted into the paled eyed teen and said "Aww, why not Neji? Is it because it's true? Or because me saying these things makes you soooooo hot n' lewd?"

Nejii narrowed his eyes at his partner, pushed him down so he was on top (while still having Lee inside him), and threatened "I'm not asking you to stop, I'm ORDERING you to stop. I'm serious, if you say one more lewd thing, I WILL paralyze your limbs so you WILL NOT be able to move for WEEKS." Lee gulped, he knew that Neji WOULD indeed do such a thing. Finally, Lee said nervously "Okay, okay, Neji. No more dirty talk... I just... Wanted you to... You know... Get more into the Mood..."

Neji looked at Lee for a while before smiling and then leaned his face close to Lee's and said "While I do appreciate the thought, I would prefer you to do what you're good at. Use your actions to get me into the Mood." Lee smiled as well. Neji was right. Rock Lee was a Shinobi of action, not words. With that, Lee suddenly thrusted up, hard. Neji was officially paralyzed with pleasure. The bowl-cut teen grabbed the pale-eyed teen's waist and really thrusted deep into him, hitting that magical spot inside. Neji had a trail of siliva dribbling down his chin. Lee managed to lean close to the other and kissed the paled-eyed teen.

Oh, yes, action was soooooo much better than words. Just how the two loved it.

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Lee woke up to his alarm clock. He pushed the alarm off and sat up in his bed, doing so revealed to the teen that he would probably need to take a nice, long, cold shower before he headed off to the Ninja Academy. 'That was day seven... That means I just finished my Soulmate Dreams... Which also means... Hyūga Neji is my Soulmate...' Lee thought with as much vigor as one would have when getting a root canal.

Why was the teen so down about something that should bring utter joy to people? Because, Rock Lee and Hyūga Neji were NOT on the best of terms. In fact, Lee was positively sure that the Hyūga genius HATED him. One of the reasons was Lee was only excellent in Taijutsu, Neji was excellent in Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, and Taijutsu.

Lee sighed and got out of bed, trying his best to ignore the uncomfortable tightness in his night nickers. 'Of all the people in the world, it had to be the one person who hates my guts,' Lee thought as he undressed himself to take that cold shower, and relieving his confined member. That sed member practically jumped to his naval.

Lee could only assume that the reason the Hyūga treats him so poorly was probably because he hasn't had his Soulmate Dreams yet, even though Neji was close to a half a year older than him. While no one under the age of 15 can have their Soulmate Dreams, theses dreams can happen anytime after a person turns 15. Each person has their Soulmate Dreams at a varying time, sometimes people don't get their Soulmate Dreams until years after they turn 15. The oldest person on record to have their Soulmate Dreams was 75-years-old. Lee knew for a fact that his beloved mentor, Gai-Sensei, has yet to have his Soulmate Dreams.

Lee jumped into the showed, it was like jumping into the Arctic. 'I guess this means I should see that Dream Empath (1) my parents told me to go to when I get my Soulmate Dreams... Maybe he can help with this predicament,' Lee thought as he washed his body as quickly as possible. The water was too cold for his liking, but it helped with his morning wood, so to speak.

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On the other side of the village.

A 15-year-old teen with semi-long, spiky, raven black hair with cole black eyes, pulled on a dark blue shirt with a white and red fan on the back. He was already wearing his knee length white shorts. He already brushed his teeth and hair for the morning. He sighed a bit as he pulled on his white arm warmers and thought 'Another day...'

"Sasuke. Breakfast." Called a voice from the kitchen. So the teen left his room.

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The sound of footsteps made it's way to the kitchen. The person in the kitchen didn't need to look up to see who it was. "Make sure you eat kiddo, today's a big day," said a tall, light blue skinned man with beady black-on-yellow eyes, looked like he had gills under those eyes, wearing a long-sleeved black shirt, long kaki nickers, and was smiling, showing his sharp dagger-like teeth, as he flipped a stack of blueberry and banana pancakes onto a plate. "I will Kisame-nii," the teen, Sasuke, said as he sat down at the dinner table. The blue man, Kisame, placed the plate of breakfast food in front of Sasuke. The teen thanked Kisame and noticed that some one was missing. "Were's Itachi-nii?" Sasuke asked. Kisame replied "His doctor's appointment is today." Sasuke said as he realized a particular fact "Oh, right. He was only able to get the morning time today." Kisame nodded as he sat at the table with his own plate of pancakes.

As the two ate, they talked about Itachi's condition. How it was good for the Uchiha clan. And Sasuke made a snippet to Kisame about not going overboard with "Reviving the Uchiha clan" with Itachi. That almost caused Kisame to choke on his food.

Itachi was Sasuke's older brother and Kisame was Itachi's Soulmate. How they actually met is another story for another day, but what can be told now was that they married five years ago. 'Come to think of it... Their anniversary's next month,' Sasuke thought as he took another bite of his breakfast. He needed to make sure to do something special for them.

After the two finished eating, Sasuke grabbed his bag and got ready to leave, but that was when Kisame stopped him by saying "Sasuke, did Hatake-san find anything new information about That?" The raven haired teen shook his head and said "No... Not a thing..." Kisame told him that he'll find out eventually. Sasuke gave his brother-in-law a small smile and said "I know, after all, he hasn't given up after all this time." and than left the house. When Sasuke left, Kisame sighed a bit. If he could, Kisame would do what he can to help his younger brother-in-law with what he was going through. 'Maybe, if he finds his soulmate, That''ll make sense,' Kisame thought hopefully.

}i{ }i{ In Another Part of Konoha }i{ }i{

A 14, almost 15, year-old teenage boy with short spiky blond hair, bright blue eyes, marks on his cheeks that somewhat resemble whiskers, was wearing an orange jumpsuit, and orange kickers was wolfing down his breakfast. The teen was hit over his head by a woman with long blood red hair, gray eyes, and was wearing light blue dress. "NARUTO, I TOLD YOU TO NOT EAT YOUR FOOD LIKE THAT! IT'S GREAT WAY FOR YOU TO CHOKE!" the woman shouted at the teen, whom was now rubbing the nice bump on his head. This woman is Uzumaki Kushina and the blond boy was her son, Naruto.

"Sorry, mom, but I'm just super excited about today. Dad's the test proctor," Naruto stated with utter joy. While Kushina was happy that her son was excited, but there was no way she was going to let him choke before the day actually began. "You know he's not going to go easy on you just because you're his son. In fact, I'm sure he's going to be extremely tough on you," Kushina stated with a smile on her face. Naruto gleamed and stated that he wouldn't have it any other way.

After that, Naruto left for the Ninja Academy in very high spirit.

Kushina couldn't help but gleam. 'It's as if IT has never happened,' the red head thought.

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Lee was wearing his green jumpsuit and orange leg-warmers as he walked slowly to the Ninja Academy. How on earth is he suppose to act normal around Neji after his Soulmate Dreams? Come to think of it... How would Neji react if Lee tells him? As much as he wanted to ask Gai-sansei about it, he knew that the Konoha Green Beast couldn't help. But maybe he knew how to set up an appointment with the Dream Empath.

Lee heard someone call out his name and than someone glomped him. Lee smiled and said "Morning Naruto." Naruto in turn released his grip on the other teen and said "You don't seem very "Youthful" today of all days... Did something happen?" Lee just nodded, realizing that the blond was right about him not acting like himself. But, the last person Lee wanted to talk to about his Soulmate Dreams was Naruto, don't get him wrong, Naruto was a great person and all but he had the biggest mouth in the Ninja Academy, and there was no way he could NOT talk to Neji about it (Plus, Lee didn't want to tell the Hyūga until he knew what to do). But it appears that Naruto had it in his head that he needed to help Lee with his problem. Naruto was like this, since he was the son of the 4th Hokage and all.

"Is it a bad something?" Naruto interrogated. Lee shook his and said that he wasn't sure if it was good or bad, which was partly true. Naruto folded his arms to think. The blond knew that the green wearing teen wasn't telling him everything on purpose and he wanted to know why. But, that would make him a nosy-body, and he didn't want that reputation, it was a bad rap for a future Hokage. Naruto knew that Lee would tell him when he feels like it.

That was when the two spotted two more teens. One was a somewhat tall, short spiky haired brunette with narrow black eyes, red long streaks on each of his cheeks that started from under his eyes to his chin, slightly tanned, was wearing a tight black shirt that didn't hide his muscles, gray slacks, and was showing off his sharp canines. Speaking of canines, a wolf-sized white dog with brown floppy ears was walking along side of the brunette, without a leash. The brunette had one of his arm slung around the shoulders of another teen that was a bit shorter than the brunette, and like the brunette, he has spiky hair but it was puffy black, pale skin, had on a pair of round thin black glasses that hid his eyes, was wearing a black shirt that was covered with a light-gray overcoat with a high collar, and dark gray nickers. The gray coat wearing teen had both his hands in the coat's pockets.

The brunette was Inuzaka Kiba and the black haired teen was Aburame Shino. Both where 15 and both were in the same class as Naruto and Lee. Kiba and Shino were each other's Soulmates, it was a good thing too. The Inuzaka clan and the Aburame clan weren't on the best of terms since the Nine-Tail event, but since Shino and Kiba were Soulmates, things were getting better between the two clans. Tons of the students at the Ninja Academy alway wondered how the over-energetic, brash, dog loving Inuzaka was soul-mates with the quiet, stoic, bug-using Aburame; after all the two didn't seem anywhere near compatible. Plus, no one was sure what to ask either of them.

"OI, KIBA! SHINO!" Naruto hollered out. Lee made sure to cover his ears for that. Shino merely glanced at the hyperactive blond, while Kiba waved with his free hand. The dog barked. That large dog was Akamaru, Kiba's ninja partner, so to speak. The Inuzuka clan always uses dogs as ninja weapons, or ninja partner as the Inuzaka prefer to call them. Akamaru was the first "Inuzaka" to actually except Shino as Kiba's Soulmate, and the dog really did like Shino.

"I take it you're excited for today," Kiba stated as he placed his waving hand on Akamarus head. Naruto nodded happily. The blond couldn't help but think how anyone can NOT be excited about today. That was when Kiba noticed that Lee was out of character, so the dog-using ninja asked Lee why he wasn't he over happy youthful self (In nicer words, mind you).

"I'm saving all of my youthful energy for the testing today," Lee explained zealously, he really didn't want to talk to anyone about his Soulmate Dreams, at least until he's met with the Dream Empath. Before either Kiba or Naruto could say anything, Shino stated "Makes sense. We're going to need all of our energy for every single one of the required tests today." Kiba grinned, hugged Shino closer (if that was possible), and said "Ya gotta point Cuddle Bug." Shino muttered something along the lines of the dog-nin to not call him that pet name in public. Kiba kissed the bug-nin's cheek happily. Naruto wished out loud that when he has his Soulmate Dreams, he'll find someone he'd love just as much as that person would love him. Shino said nothing, while Kiba told the blond good luck. Lee on the other hand, was not so thrilled with that idea. Good thing he was walking behind the three, four if you count Akamaru.

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The four teens and the dog entered the school.

The school was abuzz with chatter. Most of it was about all the exams today. Weather they practiced enough or if they study enough.

The small group was noticed by a pink haired kunoichi with green eyes. "I hope that energy if for the exams," the pink haired girl stated towards the group. She was Sakura Haruno, she was one of the top ranking kunoichis in the Ninja Academy, at least by the book standards. Naruto flashed his goofy grin and said "Trust me I have plenty of energy for all of the tests."

Lee sighed silently. That was when he saw a certain someone from his dream. Hyūga Neji was wearing a white shirt with loose long-sleeves, beige nickers that was to his ankles, his long brownish-black hair that reached his waist and was loosely tied back, and had a stern look on his face. He was NOTHING like the Neji from Lee's Soulmate Dreams. Neji walked into the school with a young kunoichi, a year younger than him actually, with waist long midnight blue hair, pale purple eyes like Neji, pink lips, beige long-sleeved shirt, and long navy nickers. This kunoichi was Hyūga Hinata, Neji's cousin on his father's side.

Hinata was the first daughter and eldest child of the current head of the Hyūga clan (aka, Neji's uncle) which in turn makes her the heiress of the clan. Hinata practically started training as the next heir as soon as she could walk and in turn Neji was trained to be her loyal left hand around the same time. Those two were always together, even when one had to use the bathroom (Neji was the only boy who was actually allowed to enter the girls bathroom, and Hinata was the only girl allowed to enter the boys bathroom, not that the boys or girls complained or said anything. No one wanted to get on the Hyūga heir's bad side. Besides, she always went into the stalls when other boys came in the restroom). Hinata and Neji had the highest marks in the Ninja Academy; actually, the two were tied for first place.

Lee made sure not to look at either of them as they walked by. Both of them showed absolutely no emotions. The older Hyūga was walking in front of the heir, it was because it was Neji job to protect Hinata, and the only reason Neji walked in front. Even though the two had completely mastered the Byakugan, the "All Seeing Eyes" and the Hyūga clan's unique ability, Neji alway made sure that Hinata came first.

Neji's position in the Hyūga clan was another big reason why Lee wasn't too thrilled with talking about his Soulmate Dreams to anyone. He REALLY needed to book an appointment with that Dream Empath, ASAP. 'Hokage-sama will be the proctor of all the exams. Maybe... Before anything begins, I can talk to him about the Dream Empath,' Lee thought as he stared at the Hyūgas' backs.

"Hinata, Neji!" Naruto heard Sasuke calling the Hyūgas and saw the raven haired teen heading towards them. Both Hinata and Neji only looked at Sasuke, neither of their faces changed. This wasn't much of a surprise to the blond, after all the Uchiha was a precious childhood friend of the two Hyūgas. 'Probably the ONLY friend those two have,' Naruto thought bitterly. The blond tried his very best to get both Hinata and Neji to open up emotionally, it was a miserable failure. Naruto couldn't help but feel jealous that the Uchiha is somehow best friends with two of the most anti-social ninjas in the academy that not even he could befriend. The blond watch Sasuke talk to Hinata and Neji. Naruto couldn't help but wonder why the two Hyūgas were so anti-social. The blond shook his head, he really shouldn't read too much into THAT idea, after all the Hyūga clan were nice people, especially the clan head.

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Lee managed to sneak away from everyone as they headed for class. He needed to find the 4th Hokage, or someone who could help him make an appointment with the Dream Empath. Either or.

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A tall blond man with bright blue eyes walked down the main hallway of the Ninja Academy, he looked a bit like an older more mature version of Naruto. He was Uzumaki Minato, the 4th Hokage, Kushina's Soulmate, and Naruto's father. Even though he was suppose to wear the Hokage garbs, Minato didn't wear them, especially today. They would get in the way.

Minato spotted one of the students. 'He looks like a miniature version of Gai-san,' the 4th Hokage couldn't help but think with a slight chuckle.

Lee saw the Hokage and went up to him and asked nervously if he could ask for something. Minato playfully stated that he wasn't going to go easy on anyone with the exams. Lee quickly said in a nervous tone that he wasn't talking about the tests. Now the Hokage was interested. Lee quietly explained to the 4th Hokage that he completed his Soulmate Dreams and that he wanted to meet with the Dream Empath as soon as possible, preferably right after the testing, to talk to him about it.

One of the best traits for a Hokage to have is good listening skills, and Minato had that skill. "I noticed that you didn't say anything about finding out the identity of your Soulmate, does that mean you already know?" the 4th Hokage asked, and Lee nodded in responce. The teen than added "That's actually one of the main reasons why I wish to talk to the Dream Empath as soon as I can, if he's not too busy that is."

"Actually, he's here," Minato stated with a smile. Lee's eyes lit up and asked if that true. The Hokage nodded happily and added "He was actually going to talk to your class after all the exams are done, since they're all in the 15 age range. You can ask him after he speaks. Guess you're a lucky one, but you might want to head back to class before attendance."

Lee happily thanked the 4th Hokage and then dashed off to his classroom. 'A little too much like Gai-san,' Minato thought with a wiry smile on his face.

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Lee was able to get to class with five minutes to spare, but the only available seat was next to Naruto. The blond couldn't help but notice that the green wearing teen was a LOT more chipper than earlier. He wanted to ask, but then agian... 'Maybe he was constipated or something and felt batter after using the can,' Naruto thought to himself, yeah, that had to be it. 'I mean, why else would Bushy-Brows Jr be so down earlier. It's the only thing that makes sense.'

A man in his early thirties with black hair that was tied in a high pony-tail, wearing a dark blue shirt with long sleeves, a green vest, dark blue kakis that went to his heels, wore the headband of the Hidden Leaf Village symbol, and had a scar over his nose walked into the room and started taking attendance. He was Umino Iruka, he's one of the main teachers here at the Ninja Academy, and his main class was this one. Naruto really liked having Iruka-sensei as his teacher.

"INUZAKA-SAN! KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF OF ABURAME-SAN AND SIT PROPERLY IN YOUR SEAT." Iruka-sansei shouted. Kiba quickly responded by doing what the teacher asked with cheeks redder then his markings. The majority of the class laughed at that. Iruka-sansei sighed and said "And can you try to act appropriately in front of the Hokage." Kiba muttered a "Yes, Iruka-sensei." The only thing Shino did was sigh. Now 90% of the class REALLY wanted to know how those two were Soulmates.

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Minaro walked into the room which held the class that he would be proctoring today, it was his son's class. He stood in front of the class, every student was silent and had their eyes on him.

"Is everyone here?" Minato asked Iruka, who in turn nodded yes. The teacher handed the Hokage a clipboard with a relatively thick stack of paper and said "Good luck, Hokage-sama." before leaving the room. Minato smiled and turned towards the class and then said "All right. Everyone outside. Physical Abilities Exams are first."

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Iruka entered the Teacher's Lounge and was relatively surprised by the fact that someone was already there, someone who was actually early for a change. There sitting near a window, which had a great view of the Ninja Academy Training Grounds, was a man close to Iruka's age, but a bit taller then him, was wearing the same type of clothing and colors as the teacher, but had long spiky silver hair, wore a navy blue mask that covered his nose and mouth, his headband with the Hidden Leaf Village symbol covered his left eye, his right eye was black, and was drawing a image of some small birds on a sketchbook with a pencil.

"Kakashi! This is a surprise! You're early for a change!" Iruka couldn't help but say. The silver haired man, Kakashi, looked up from his sketchbook and said almost monotony "Do you really don't need to act so surprised." Iruka folded his arms and stated "Kakashi, do you even remember the last time you were actually on time?" Kakashi in turn muttered a "Point taken" before going back to his sketching. "Why are you early anyway?" Iruka asked as he sat down at the table in the break room. As he continued to sketch, Kakashi said sadly "Just felt like it. And besides... I was planing on visiting him during the written exams... I'm... Not going to be in Konoha tomorrow..."

'Oh, right... Tomorrow's the anniversary...' Iruka thought as he rested his arms on the table. The teacher remembers that day too well, and he remembers how much on an impact it had on Kakashi and Gai. "Kakashi..." Iruka said softly, but it got the other's attention. "You can head there once the students are finished with all the outdoor exams. I'm sure Gai'll stay out about 20 minutes before heading in, he'll keep you company," Iruka said trying to cheer up Kakashi. "Thanks..." the silver haired man said with a small tone of happiness.

}i{ }i{

"NARUTO!" Minato shouted. The person in question froze and nervously stuttered "Y-y-yes dad? Er, I mean Hokage-sama..." Giving his son a stern look and said "Theses exams are important, so stop fooling around." Naruto looked of to the side and said "Yes sir..." Most of the class laughed a bit. Okay, maybe Naruto shouldn't have tried to show-off his skills a bit, but he didn't want to be shown up by Sasuke and the Hyūgas, even if they DID go through the coarse flawlessly. Minato sighed and scribbled something on the clipboard.

The Hokage was looking over all of student's stats. They just finished the Taijutsu portion of the outside tests. Rock Lee had the best overall score in that category, the Hyūgas and Uchiha were a close second. That wasn't a real surprise, Lee is Gai's best student. Minato couldn't help but notice that Lee was in a very good mood, much better then earlier. 'Bet he cannot wait to talk to him,' the Hokage thought with a smile.

After a minute or so, Minato told the class the Ninjutsu was next.

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Chapter 1, End.

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(1): In this world, Dream Empaths are individuals that are able to see the dreams of others via contact with a person's head. This allows them to draw (They're usually experts in drawing, painting, or sketching) a perfect image of a person's Soulmate after one has their Soulmate Dreams. Individuals with this ability are incredibly rare, and that tend to have an extra ability that allows them to defend themselves from Shinobis (which varies from Dream Empath to Dream Empath). Dream Empaths are unable to have their own Soulmate Dreams due to being able to see other people's, but their Soulmates are able to have a Soulmate Dreams about them.

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 **ZY** : Yup, Naruto's parents are alive in this fic, Itachi and Kisame are not apart of any evil organization (they're Sasuke's loving older brother and brother-in-law), Neji and Hinata are obviously closer and are colder to people, and the biggest difference in this story is that Kakashi DOES NOT READ Make-Out Paradise (Shocking I know, but in this story he has a good reason for it).

Comments and constructive criticism are welcome, But I WILL delete rude comments and flaming.


	2. Chapter 2: Dream Empath

**ZY** : All right, this chapter is more about the idea of what a Dream Empath is in this AU. But don't worry. there is still a story.

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Dreams of Passion turned into Reality, Chapter 2; Dream Empath

}i{ }i{

"Alright, good job everyone," the Hokage shouted at the class before adding "Now, inside for lunch." The class was happy that the physical exams are over. Naruto rubbed his hands together, drooled a bit, and thought happily 'Finally, now I can eat mom's delicious homemade ramen bento.' Some of the students started chatting about the written exams and other stuff.

Sasuke stretched his arms over his head, which made 99% of girls squeal. 'Itachi-nii said he put a surprise in my bento last night, now I can finally get to find out what it is,' Sasuke thought happily as he brought his arms to his sides. Sasuke felt a pair of arms wrap around his chest and felt someone whisper into his ear "I wouldn't mind giving YOU a surprise." Sasuke shudder a bit. 'Please... Can you wait until ALL of the exams are over,' The ravenette thought, trying not to look behind him, he KNEW EXACTLY who it was. He was relieved when he heard the person chuckle out "I'll be waiting, my Soulmate." Sasuke quickly glanced behind him, and no one was there. "Sasuke, you coming?" Neji asked him when he realized that Sasuke wasn't walking with him and Hinata. The Uchiha quickly nodded and walked quickly towards his friends. "What did Hizashi-ojisan (1) make for your bentos?" Sasuke asked the two Hyūgas. They smiled a bit and told their friend to wait and see. The Uchiha couldn't help but smile.

Lee had one hand on his stomach. 'Finally, lunch. Now I can refuel my Youthful energy for the written exams,' Lee thought happily. Well, he was happy until his eyes caught Neji, walking with Sasuke and his cousin towards the school. The green clad teen looked off to the side, he really couldn't understand how Neji, of all people, could be HIS SOULMATE. After standing still for a minute or two, he came to a conclusion, he REALLY NEEDED to talk to the Dream Empath. Gai-sansei assured him that the Dream Empath was really amazing (When Gai was helping out with some of the physical exams, he told Lee that he was good friends with the Dream Empath, and they actually talked QUIETLY to one another about him while the others were busy with the exams). Out of the corner of his eye, Lee spotted a man with silver hair and had his face covered by a mask and his headband. 'That's Kakashi-san, Gai-sensei's rival! What is he doing here?' Lee thought as he watched Kakashi walk across the court. Lee saw Gai-sensei wave at the silver-haired man, so he started heading in the school, the teen assumed that his beloved sensei challenged his rival to some kind of youthful contest.

}i{ }i{ In the Cafeteria }i{ }i{

"Are you going to drool over that for the entire lunch period or are you going to actually eat it?" Kiba asked the blond, whom was sitting across the table from him and Shino. The Inuzaka and Aburame always sat together, after ever since they discovered that they were each other's Soulmate anyway. Naruto gave a wide grin and said "Of coarse I'm going to eat it, Mom made it for me." The dog-nin leaned over a bit to see the blond's bento, frowned, and couldn't help but say "You know, if you eat that stuff for every meal, you're going to turn into ramen one of these days..." Naruto pretended not to hear Kiba's statement and slurped down the ramen happily. Shino sighed and stated "How exactly are we friends with you again?" Naruto chewed, swallowed his food, and said with a cat-ish grin "Because I'm an interesting guy and I'm awesome." Kiba and Shino looked at each other with a look of disappointment and said "Half right, at least..." Naruto pretended not to hear them as he slurped up another mouthful of ramen.

Lee sat at the same table as Naruto, Kiba, and Shino (Akamaru was under the table, snoozing). "What took you so long?" Kiba asked as Lee started eating. The green clad ninja muttered something along the lines of having to use the bathroom before getting his lunch. Naruto swallowed his food and said "Hope you washed your hands." Lee snipped back that he did, of coarse. Shino stared at Lee and asked "Is everything okay? You seem very stressed." Lee really needed to think of something quick. "It must be because I am hungry, yes, that's it. You know that some people are irritable when they are hungry," Lee said relatively quickly.

After a few seconds, Kiba stated that that was true and added "I mean you should see Tsume-nee when she's hungry." Naruto scrawled and muttered "Don't remind me..." The blond learnt the hard way NOT to cross Kiba's older sister, Naruto shuddered, he still had the scars from that. Lee sighed softly, he was glade he diverted Kiba and Naruto's attention. But Shino didn't buy it, he knew something was wrong with Lee and knew that he was hiding it. Shino took a bite of his food. The bug-nin had an idea about why Lee was acting strange and wasn't sure if he should feel happy or worried for the green clad ninja.

}i{ }i{ On the School Roof }i{ }i{

Sasuke and the Hyūgas were sitting in a triangle on a picnic blanket on the roof. The sky was clear and blue, so it was a nice day to eat outside. Besides, the three really hated eating in the cafeteria, 99% of the gals, and some of the guys, in the Ninja Academy tried to flirt with the Uchiha and the Hyūgas didn't like all of the stares from the other students, they could easily see them. The three always ate on the roof when it was sunny, they only ate in the cafeteria when it was really raining or snowing.

Sasuke took a bite out of a gyoza that Neji gave him, it was soooo damn delicious. "Seriously, Hizashi-ojisan should really open his own restaurant. I sware, it'll be a huge hit!" Sasuke couldn't help but say. Neji beamed with pride, he was proud of his fathers cooking skills. "Father always tells Uncle that he should, but Uncle keeps on refusing. Says making his family happy is enough for him," Hinata said with a smile.

The Hyūgas' personalities were a complete 360 from earlier. The two were smiling more, more opened, and sounded really happy. They wore these "Cold Masks" when they were at school, and so far only the rest of their family and the Uchihas (Plus Kisame) knew that. And since it was just the two Hyūgas and Sasuke, Hinata and Neji didn't need to have those Masks on. Sasuke finished the gyoza happily.

"So, what did Itachi-niisan make for you?" Neji asked the ravenette. Sasuke said that he hasn't looked yet and pulled his bento out of his bag. The Uchiha was excited, when Itachi was making the bento he mentioned that Sasuke would love it before he even took a bite. The Uchiha told the Hyūgas this. Hinata quickly wondered what the older Uchiha meant by that. Neji stated that there was only one way to find out.

Sasuke opened his bento. What he saw, made him speechless. A hand covered his mouth in complete shock.

"Sasuke... What's wrong?" Hinata asked her friend when she saw tears appearing in the corners of Sasuke's eyes.

When his voice came back, cracking but back, Sasuke said "You guys remember when Itachi-nii went to the doctors to check the gender of the baby he's carrying." The Hyūgas nodded and Neji said "Yes, it was two days ago, he didn't tell you the gender. Today's the follow-up, to check the health of the child." Sasuke nodded as the tears fell down his cheeks and he motioned the two to look at his bento. The two did. What they saw caused the two to immediately embrace the Uchiha in a hug.

The older Uchiha was right, the younger Uchiha WOULD love the bento before he took a bite. It was indeed a surprise. The Hyūgas were so very happy for their friend, the soon-to-be-uncle. To put it simply, what Itachi put in the bento told Sasuke that he was going to have a niece AND a nephew.

}i{ }i{

When lunch was over, the class made their way back to their classroom. When they got there, they noticed that all of the desks had numbers on them, numbers 1-30, and that there was a small beige box on Iruka-sensei's desk. Minato stood next to the desk.

"All right, written exams will begin shortly," the Hokage explained, then added "Now, everyone pick a number out of the box. That number will be your seat for the first test. We will be changing seats for all four written exam."

One by one, each of the students pulled out a number and went to the corresponding desk.

Sakura pulled the number 8.

Kiba pulled number 6 and Shino pulled 20. Those two desks were not close to one another. So Kiba quickly nuzzled Shino's cheek before heading towards his desk. Naruto noticed that the bug-nin had a dusting of pink on his cheeks as he walked to his respective desk. The blond couldn't help but chuckle a bit and think that they were a pair of lovebirds.

Sasuke pulled number 7. The pink-haired kunoichi was overjoyed.

When it was the Hyūgas' turn, Minato asked them politely to not use their Byakugan to pick their numbers. The two nodded, all of the desks weren't that far apart from one another so no need to use their eyes. Hinata pulled number 10 while Neji pulled number 27.

Lee pulled number 21. All Lee needed to was to get through the written tests without any incidents and he will be able to talk to the Dream Empath.

Naruto pulled number 11. 'I have to sit next to the Hyūga heir! Seriously?!' Naruto thought as he walked towards his temporary desk. 'Well, at least it's only for this test,' the blond thought as he sat down. With his best smile, Naruto waved a hi. Hinata didn't even give him a second look. The blond really wondered why she and her cousin were so cold.

After everyone was seated. Minato passed out the test papers to all of the students and explained that this was a multiple choice test and wanted everyone to finish it within the designated time. Plus the Hokage told his son not to randomly fill in any of the answers and to actually read the questions. The majority of the class laughed.

As soon as everyone had a paper, Minato told the class to begin.

}i{ }i{ Two Hours Later }i{ }i{

'Last test! After this, I will meet the Dream Empath!' Lee thought happily as he pulled the number for his new seat, #15. 'That's right behind Neji!' Lee thought as he walked to the respective desk, doing his best not to show any hint of his anxiety. When he took his seat he noticed that Neji's hair seamed really shiny and well kept. 'Pretty,' Lee couldn't help but think as he imagined himself running his fingers through the paled-eye teen's hair. Holding Neji close and leaning in to... Lee shook his head. He could NOT let his mind wonder to THAT. He needed to focus on the last test.

Naruto pulled number 17. The blond didn't hide his feelings about it.

Minato raised an eyebrow at his son. "Is there a problem, Naruto?" he asked.

Naruto frowned and stated "Not again..." At first the Hokage didn't understand what his son meant, but when he saw the number, it clicked. The Hyūga heir was sitting at desk number 16. Minato couldn't help but say with a slight chuckle "Oh my, you're sitting next to Hyūga-chan yet again." For ALL of the prior tests, Naruto somehow always pulled the number next to the number Hyūga Hinata drew. 'Seriously! What the hell are the odds?' Naruto thought somewhat sarcastically. Still chucking, the Hokage said playfully "I wonder if this is some sort of sign that you two are meant to be ^_^ " "DAD! THAT IS SOOOO NOT FUNNY!" Naruto practically shouted at his father, completely forgetting where they are. Still with that playful smile, Minato said "Now, now, Naruto. You know the only surefire way to know who you're meant to be with," then added "But I must admit, the odds of you and Hinata-chan sitting next to each other for all four of these tests is pretty spectacular."

Grumbling, Naruto headed to his seat. The blond just to happened to have glance to his left. Hyūga Neji was glaring at him. Naruto practically shouted at the paled-eyed boy "Oh come on! Dad was just joking! Really, really badly..." Neji was still glaring at him as he said with venom "Then I hope you won't try anything funny with Hinata-sama." Naruto grumbled something along the lines of "who would want to" as he sat in his seat, not even bothering to glance at the other Hyūga, he knew she would probably be glaring at him too. Now Naruto REALLY wanted the test to end as soon as possible.

After a couple of minutes, everyone was seated. The Hokage handed out the test papers and said "Make sure you explain your answers best you can, and if you finish before the designated time, you my spend your free time how you please outside this classroom but be sure to be back here by 15:00. Our residential Dream Empath will be speaking to this class. You all are in the 15 age range, so he'll be talking to you about what he does and what to expect when your Soulmate Dreams appears." Lee was already happy about that.

After all of the young ninjas had their test papers, the Hokage told everyone to begin.

}i{ }i{

Lee was writing his answer for one of the questions on the test. The green clad teen glanced up from his paper and just stared at the back of Neji's head for a bit. 'Why would he be my Soulmate?' Lee couldn't help but think. The green clad boy watched the paled-eyed boy write for a minute or so, before he noticed that he stopped. Neji slowly turned his head, to look behind him. When Lee saw that, he immediately darted his eye to his paper and pretended to think about the question he was on.

After about half a minute of watching Lee think, Neji turned back to his paper. He could have sworn that the bowl-cut boy was staring at him. Neji shook his head and thought 'There's no way that he would be staring at me, especially during this test.'

After a couple of minutes, there was nothing but the sounds of pen scratching paper. Minato kept an eye on the entire class, making sure that no one was cheating in any way. So far the only odd thing to happen was the male Hyūga looking behind him at the miniature Gai. Not the most exciting thing for him to do, but it's nesasary. After all, these tests will help determine who will be on each of the three man teams.

A student stood up and walked towards the Hokage. Everyone was surprised by this student, whom had finished first. Minato blinked as he took the test paper from the student, looked at the answers to make sure they were written to the best of the student's ability, and said "Alright everything's answered. Lee-kun, you may leave, but be back before 15:00." The green clad teen nodded and left the room. 'How'd did he finish first?!' thought 85% of the students remaining in the class. The 15% that wasn't thinking that were keeping their focus on their test.

}i{ }i{

Lee walked down the hall. He really needed some fresh air. "Are you already done with the written tests Lee-kun?" Lee heard someone ask him. The green clad teen turned towards the voice, it was Kakashi. The silver-haired man had his hands in his pockets and had a sketchbook under his left arm. Lee nodded, but not with much vigor. "Gai told me you completed your Soulmate Dreams and since there's a good amount of time left for I have to talk to your class, I guess I can talk to you about it," Kakashi said as he motioned Lee to follow him. Hold on... "Wait! Are You..." Lee was cut off by Kakashi putting a finger to his masked covered lips and said with a smiling eye "I am, but~ I prefer you'd not shout it, there are still people taking the test." Lee nodded with more energy and with a smile. This was such exciting news! No wonder Gai-sensei spoke so highly of the Dream Empath. "Ano, you don't need to draw my Soulmate, I already know who he is," Lee said as Kakashi led him into a vacent room. Kakashi chuckled and said "I supose that's less work for me, but from what Gai told me, that's not the real problem. Is it." Lee nodded as the silver-haired shinobi closed the door. "No worries, what you tell me will not leave this room unless you wish it," Kakashi said as the two sat in some free chairs. Lee happily thanked the older ninja.

}i{ }i{

Sasuke was the next one to finish, he silently signaled his two friends to meet him on the roof. Both of whom nodded before the Uchiha left.

Once Sasuke opened the door to the roof, he was practically attacked by an unknown assailant. Well, the teen thought he was being attacked until he felt a pair of lips on his own. "For Kami sake! DON'T do that! I could've killed you!" Sasuke said before he was pushed against the closed door and was kissed yet agian by this unknown. "Now, tell me, how can you kill someone who is not actually here?" the assailant asked before kissing Sasuke very deeply. The Uchiha sighed and mumbled something along the lines of "not the point here" before the assailant pulled him away from the door and drew him into a hug. "You know very well that I will never harm my Soulmate," The assailant said as one arm wrapped around Sasuke's waist and another around Sasuke's shoulders. The Uchiha rested his hands on the assailant's back and said "I can't wait to actually meet you in person... Itachi-nii, Kisame-nii, and the Hyūgas... They all want to meet you too." The assailant nuzzled his nose into Sasuke's neck and said "I know, I'm sure my real self wishes to meet you just as much."

"Eh-hem." the two quickly cased their eyes to the door to the roof. There standing in the doorframe was Hyūga Hinata and Hyūga Neji, both had their Byakugan activated. "We're not interrupting anything are we?" Hinata said with a small smirk, Neji on the other hand was chuckling a bit. Sasuke cheeks were as red as a rose. The assailant just went back to nuzzling the Uchiha's neck.

}i{ }i{

About ten minutes later. Shino was under a shady tree with Akamaru by his side. The two decided to spend their free time outside while they waited for Kiba. Shino tossed a large wooden stick into the air and Akamaru went after it. When the giant dog caught the stick and brought it back to the bug-nin. Shino didn't find the appeal of "Fetch", but Akamaru loved it and it was good exercise for the dog, so Shino threw the stick yet again.

When Akamaru brought the stick back, he dropped it an barked three times. Even though Shino was still learning how to understand the Inuzaka dogs, he was able to understand some of what the dogs said. And he knew EXACTLY what the giant dog asked. With red dusting his cheeks, Shino muttered "No, we are NOT having "Puppies" anytime soon. Kiba told you that we're not going to try until AFTER we are wedded." Akamaru whimpered a bit. The bug-nin patted the dog on the head and said "Don't worry, the Wedding's in a year and a half." The dog whined. This time Shino didn't understand what Akamaru said.

A pair of arms wrapped around Shino. "Maru said that a year and a half is ten and a half dog years," said the owner of the arms, it was the bug-nin's Soulmate. Shino leaned back into the arms and said "Ah, so that's why he was whining." Kiba nuzzled Shino's cheek. Akamaru wagged his tail, happy that his ninja partner was finish with the testing. The giant dog barked. Kiba chuckled and said "Sorry, buddy, we can't leave yet. We have to stay for Hatake-san's speech." Akamaru tilted his head a bit. "It's mandatory Akamaru, even if we already found our Soulmates," Shino explained to the dog. Akamaru barked. The two smiled and Kiba said "Sure, you can join us. I'm sure Hokage-sama won't mind." Akamaru was happy.

}i{ }i{

Sakura was sitting at a table in the cafeteria, doodling hearts with "Sakura x Sasuke" and "SH x SU" written in them on a notebook. "Seriously? Why do you draw those?" The pink-haired kunoichi looked up from her drawings. Standing in front of Sakura was another kunoichi with brown-almost-black hair tied in two buns placed symmetrically on her head, had dark brown eyes, and was only a little bit taller than the pink-haired kunoichi. "It could happen Tenten," Sakura stated happily. Tenten sat down across from Sakura with a sigh. Tenten gave Sakura a serious look and said "Listen, what you have is a crush. That's it, nothing more. Once you have your Soulmate Dreams, you'll find your true love. And I guarantee that it's not going to be that Uchiha." Sakura frowned and said "Oh, come on Tenten, what's not to love about Sasuke-kun? He's perfect. Why do you hate him?" Tenten replied plainly "I don't hate him, it's just... I can't understand why every girl in school fawns over him. Besides, this crush destroy a perfect friendship between you and" Sakura interrupted by saying "Don't even finish that sentence!" Tenten muttered "This proves my point."

Sakura stared at her doodle thinking that Sasuke could be her Soulmate.

Tenten had to be THE ONLY girl in the Ninja Academy who didn't harbor any feeling for the younger Uchiha, neither love nor hate. She didn't hate Sasuke himself per say, she just hated what he was doing. Well, okay, it wasn't actually Sasuke's actual doing, it was the stuff that the other girls were doing for his affection. It was one of the reason why Sakura was no longer friends with...

"Wouldn't it be funny if you were Sasuke-kun's Soulmate," Sakura said interrupting Tenten's thoughts. Tenten shook her head and stated plainly that there was no way she would be Soulmates with him. Sakura chuckled and said "Oh come on, don't you think it would be funny? The only girl in school who has no feeling for the hottest guy in school ends up being Soulmates with one another?" Tenten shook her head yet again. The darker haired kunoichi couldn't see the humor in the pink-haired girl's statement.

}i{ }i{

At 14:50 on the dot, everyone in Naruto's class was back in their classroom. Naruto was still working on his test, in the second to last row, but he's on the last question so no worry.

Kiba, Shino, and Akamaru were sitting together in the first row. The dog was laying in front of the desks that Kiba and Shino were sitting at.

Hinata and Neji were sitting in the second row from the front. Sasuke was sitting between the two, for obvious reasons. The Uchiha didn't want any fighting to occur for the "Rights" to sit next to him and the best way to do that was to sit between the Hyūgas, NO ONE wanted to go against either of those two.

Lee was sitting right behind Neji. He was still processing the information that Kakashi told him.

** Lee was telling Kakashi that he was willing to wait for Neji to have his Soulmate Dreams. The green clad teen looked at the silver-haired man, it was hard to figure out what he was thinking, mostly because his face was covered. "Are you sure you really want to do that?" Kakashi finally said, then added "Are you really willing to endure the pain of having your Soulmate believe that you're not worth their time? Just because they have yet to have their dream about you?" Lee twiddled his thumbs, Kakashi-san did have a point. Lee took a breath and asked "Then... What should I do? I know Neji will not believe me when I tell him that I'm his Soulmate." With a mischievous gleam in his visible eye, Kakashi said "I know that you're quite talent at Taijutsu, that you're also a shinobi of action, that you are a hard worker, and that you can do amazing things when you put your mind to it." Lee was blushing at the Dream Empath's praises, but it was mostly him remembering the phrase "Shinobi of action" that was making him red. "So," Kakashi continued "Show Neji that you're worth his attention, and in time he'll learn who you are to him." Lee thought that was a great idea. "Besides, you two need each other," Kakashi said with a smiling eye. **

Lee wondered what his beloved sensei's rival meant by him and Neji needing each other.

"FINISHED!" Naruto shouted before he jumped out of his seat to hand in his test paper, with two minutes to spare. After Naruto gave his father his paper, he returned to his seat. Minato wasn't too surprised by this.

The Hokage signaled someone from the doorway to come in. So he did.

}i{ }i{

"Evening young ninjas," Kakashi said with a smile, though it was hard to tell, and added "I am Hatake Kakashi the Dream Empath of Konoha."

Naruto practically jumped and shouted "WAIT! KAKASHI, YOU'RE THE DREAM EMPATH!" Kakashi calmly stated "Just like you're the son of the Hokage, Naruto-chan. Now, sit." the blond frowned, folded his arms, sat back in his chair and muttered "Don't add the chan to my name." Naruto has known Kakashi since he was in dippers, since his father was Kakashi's sensei, but this it the first time he's heard about the silver-haired man being the Dream Empath. So, yeah, Naruto's exclamation is valid. Kakashi sighed and stated "You were never told Because you sensei's son and you can't keep a secret. Pretty sure you don't get that big mouth from your parents. No offense Sir." Minato replied none taken. Most of the class chuckled.

"Anyway..." Kakashi stated looking around to make sure everyone was listening, Naruto included (whom was now interested in this new information about his family friend). Kakashi continued "It's one of the jobs of a Dream Empath to bridge the meaning of dreams into the awaken world. Meaning that we council people about what their dreams are telling them. One of those things is being able to give the person an image of their Soulmate so that they are able to search for them easier." The silver-haired man opened his sketchbook showing the class an detailed penciled image of a doe and her fawn by a river with trees, flowers, grass, and other small critter. Kakashi continued "Translating an image onto paper or canvas is a natural skill that all Dream Empaths have. Weather it be drawing in pencil, pen, marker, charcoal, graphite, or paint. And weather it be in black and white, grayscale, or color. A Dream Empath can use whatever they feel comfortable using to create and image of anything from the Dream Plain." Kakashi closed his sketchbook and continued "Now, does anyone know how a Dream Empath can enter a person's Dream Plain and what a Dream Plain is?" Most of the students were confused by this question.

Sakura's hand immediately shot up. Kakashi looked at a class rooster before saying "Alright, please answer, Haruno-san."

Sakura explained "Dream Empaths can enter one's Dream Plain via direct contact with one's head, even when that person's awake. But they must have permission to do so. Because entering one's mind must take absolute trust in both the person and the empath. Dream Plains are best described as a mirror image of one's heart that is developed over time. While the Dream Plain varies from person to person, it's believed that all Dream Plains are connected in one way or another. Reason why we have Soulmate Dreams." before Sakura could continue, Kakashi told her nicely that she's explained enough and didn't need to say anymore.

Kakashi continued "Dream Empaths do their best to use their abilities to ease the minds of people who need the help, even if they are not aware of the problem. Helping those to find their Soulmate is the majority of what a Dream Empath does." Once Naruto heard the words "Help" and "People", he knew that he wanted to do that and voiced it very loudly.

Minato sighed and Kakashi shook his head. "It's not as easy as you think, Naruto-chan," Kakashi stated plainly and continued "Being a Dream Empath just can't be learnt by anyone, like a jutsu. These are abilities are something someone is born with and start surfacing between 10-13 years old."

"Like a Lineage line?" Tenten asked. "I suppose that's the best way to describe it, but not really," Kakashi said, leaving the class in a bit of confusion. Kakashi explained "While it IS considered to be an inherited ability, it's not really something that's pasted from parent to child. In fact, most of the Dream Empaths don't even HAVE a relative that is another Dream Empath."

"Then, how do they learn how to use their abilities?" A cubby teen with long orangey-brown hair, red swirls on his cheeks, squinty eyes, and wide nose asked. This teen's name is Akimichi Chōji.

"Excellent question with a simple answer," Kakashi said with a smile, then added "They learn from other Dream Empaths. If there isn't one in the village they live in, then they find one from a nearby village." The room was silent. So silent that you could hear a pin drop. "But..." Kakashi said after about a minute of complete quietness. Kakashi continued "Their is one Dream Empath I know that has a parent that is also Dream Empath. Probably the only one who is." The silver-haired man glanced at the Hokage, whom was giving him a look that said "Don't say another word about THAT, you know you're not suppose to talk about it." Kakashi chuckled and said "Oops, I said too much. Sorry Sensei."

Wait...

"DAD, ARE YOU?!" Naruto shouted. Both Minato and Kakashi said at the same time "I'm/He's not." Now things were REALLY quiet. "Ano... If Dad's not, then why is he looking at you like that?" Naruto asked in utter confusion. "Sorry Naruto, but that information is strictly classified. ISN'T IT HATAKE-SAN," Minato stated sternly at his former pupil, whom was rubbing the back of his head in an apologetic manner. "I didn't say who it was," Kakashi said in that tone that was the manner he was persenting. With a sern look, Minato said "Finish up with your talk, but." Kakashi muttered that he knows.

With a deep breath, the Dream Empath continued "Now, I'll talk about Soulmates to finish this off." This got 95% of the class really excited.

"I sure Inuzaka-kun and Aburame-kun can tell the rest of you how it feels to be united with their Soulmate, and I'm also sure that Uchiha-kun can also tell all of you that Soulmates are a great addition to a family," Kakashi said, causing the lovebirds to turn a soft shade of pink and Sasuke to smile happily. Kakashi chuckled and continued "As you all know, finding your Soulmate is the main battle." Than Kakashi added seriously "But, I am going to tell you this. A Soulmate isn't someone who is compatible with you, compliments you, or who you want. A Soulmate IS someone who you NEED and who NEEDS you as well." Then Kakashi happily added "Right, Inuzaka-kun and Aburame-kun?" Kiba grinned a cheeky smile and Shino buried his face into Kiba's shoulder, to hide his embarrassment, both were VERY PINK in the face. Akamaru barked. Kiba was red with pure embarrassment when he said to the dog "Maru! Please! Don't bring THAT up HERE!"

The class laughed. None were sure what Akamaru said, but Kiba's reaction was pretty funny.

Naruto wondered what Kakashi meant by Soulmates needing each other, and he wasn't the only one thinking that. Lee couldn't help but think 'Why would Neji and I need one another?" Kakashi saw that look on his rival's pupil's eyes. The Dream Empath smiled under his mask as he thought 'Good, Lee. You're one step closer.' Kakashi then glanced at Naruto and thought 'You still got some growing to do.' Now Kakashi's eye landed on Sasuke, Hinata, and Neji. 'I'll be seeing them later today,' Kakashi thought happily. After all he found the answer to what's been plauging Sasuke.

}i{ }i{ Five Days Later }i{ }i{

The results were in. Naruto's class of 30 were going to be split into ten three-man teams. Naruto was excited, he was fine with all his classmate. Well, all but the Hyūgas and Sasuke, especially Sasuke. But what were the odds of Naruto being on the same team as any of them?

}i{ }i{

Iruka-sensei was telling his class who was on each of the three-man teams.

Sakura had to hold back a laugh when she heard that Ino was on the same team as Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Chōji, Team 10. 'Serves her right,' Sakura thought happily. The pink-haired ninja noticed that Tenten was giving her THAT look. Sakura looked away from her.

Iruka-sensei called the names for Team 8, after looking at the names for a good minute. "Okay, next team is Inuzaka Kiba, Aburame Shino, and..." 'HOW'D THOSE TWO GET ON THE SAME TEAM!?' thought 98% of the class. "Hyūga Hinata." ... Huh?! There was a good moment of silence. The Hyūgas WEREN'T on the same team?! "Hinata-kun, Neji-kun, before you two say anything. The reason the two of you are not on the same team is because both of you are on the same level with the same ability," Iruka stated before adding "The staff and I are very aware that your positions in the Hyūga clan call for the two of you to be together, but the tests, the staff, and the High Ranked Shinobis believed that it be best for you to be on different teams. Besides, Hyūga Hiashi himself was the first one to approve it."

Neji stood up to question the teacher, but Hinata stopped him by saying "Neji, not another word." Neji turned to his cousin and said "But, Hinata-sama..." Hinata folded her hands, rested her chin on them, and said "This was decided by the higher ranking Shinobi, the tests, and my father. *Her stern eyes stared at Neji* You're not questioning him, are you?" Neji vigorously shook and said nervously "No! I would never! But... It's just..." Hinata closed her eyes and stated "Sit. We can simply ask Father when we get home about his decision." Neji nodded with a "Yes, Hinata-sama." before he sat back in his seat. This was a very odd thing for the class to experience.

Things were quiet for half a minute.

"Now for Team 7," Iruka stated looking at his clipboard. "Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto" Naruto was overjoyed. You see the blond had a not so secret crush on the pink-haired kunoichi. "You done Naruto?" Iruka asked in a humorist tone. That was when Naruto realized that the entire class was staring at him, okay, Sakura was glaring at him. The pink-haired kunoichi knew that Ino was snickering at her. "Next time, try containing your excitement until AFTER I'm finished talking," Iruka said with a sly smile. "Sorry Iruka-sensei," Naruto stated as he sat back down. Iruka continued by saying "The last member of Team 7 is... Uchiha Sasuke." Sakura was absolutely overjoyed. Iruka quickly stated "Naruto, before you say anything, YOU'RE FATHER was the one to recommend that you be on the same team as Sasuke-kun. So, anything you have to say, talk to him about it." Naruto was practically pouting as he was grumbling. Sasuke wasn't exactly thrill about the team arrangement as well.

"Neji-kun, you're on Team 6 with Buki Tenten (2) and Rock Lee," Iruka stated before moving on to the next team line-up. Neji wasn't exactly thrilled about that, but he kept quite. He was already on Hinata's bad side and he didn't want to get into anymore trouble with her. Tenten wasn't sure if she should be happy or sad with her new team. 'Well, at least I'm not on that Uchiha's team,' Tenten thought plainly, 'But, I kind of wish Sakura wasn't on his team...' She really didn't want her friend that close to that guy. Lee felt his stomach sank to his feet. Well, at least he had more of an opportunity to show Neji that he is his Soulmate without verbalizing it.

After Iruka-sensei finished organizing the teams, he said that a Jōnin ranked Shinobi will be leading each team and that they were assigned to lead certain teams. Iruka wished everyone good luck with their new teams and told them that the Jōnins would be in shortly before leaving.

}i{ }i{ One Hour Later }i{ }i{

All the teams met with their receptive Jōnin senseis. Well, all but one team.

"He's late..." Naruto said flatly, he was obviously in a bad mood. He had four reasons to be in a bad mood. 1; he was on the same team as Sasuke. 2; his own father put him on the team Sasuke was on. 3; Sakura was currently flirting with Sasuke, or tying to. And 4; he had to now do missions with Sasuke. 'Worst day ever,' Naruto thought bitterly.

"Naruto, did you ever think that our sensei might be coming back from a mission and that's the reason he's late," Sakura stated trying to impress Sasuke. It wasn't working. It was probably because she too was irritated that their new sensei was late. 'Why couldn't they put me with Hinata and Neji? These two are just going to drag me down,' Sasuke thought, but he remembered what Iruka-sensei said about the Hokage putting his son on the same team as him. 'I reeeealy hope the Hokage had a good reason for that,' Sasuke thought as he watched Naruto place a board eraser on top of the door so that who ever walked in would get hit in the head with the eraser. "There's no way a Jōnin would ever walk into a childish trap like that," Sakura said, but she was thinking that it served that person right for making them wait this long. Sasuke simply sighed.

The door was pushed open, which caused the eraser to fall, but it didn't hit the person who opened the door. The eraser just fell to the floor. All three students were shocked at the Jōnin, their new sensei. "Really, Naruto-chan? You're almost 15 and you still do these childish pranks?" said the Jōnin. "W-w-what are you doing here Kakashi?" Naruto stuttered out. Why was Hatake Kakashi, the Dream Empath, doing here? With a smiling eye, Kakashi said happily "That's Kakashi-sensei to you."

"YOU'RE OUR JŌNIN SENSEI?!" all three young ninja exclaimed. Still cheery, Kakashi said "Yup ^_^. Team 7 is my responsibility ^_^." Sakura nervously asked why he was THEIR sensei. "Oh, Hokage-sensei assigned me to be this team's sensei." Kakashi explained as he watch his new students reactions, then added "Which means Team 7 has an extra special mission that starts right now."

Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke asked in unison "What's the mission?"

With that visible eye smiling, Kakashi stated happily "Protecting the Dream Empath while he's in some one's Dream Plain." That was when it hit Sakura Like a ton of bricks "Oh I understand!" "You do?" Naruto and Sasuke asked at the same time, causing Naruto to glare at the other. Sakura nodded at Sasuke and said "When a Dream Empath is in a person's mind, they are in a state of slumber, so to speak, and will stay in that state as long as they are in another person's mind. It's the only time where Dream Empaths are completely vulnerable to attacks and abductions." Kakashi happily said "Right again, Haruno-san. You really do your research, don't you." Sakura beamed with pride, and was hoping that Sasuke's interest were purked. Sadly, Sasuke wasn't at all interested. 'I already knew this... Hatake-san knows that,' Sasuke thought eyeing his new sensei, then he figure that Naruto didn't know that fact.

"Are you really defenseless when you do that, Kakashi?" Naruto asked. The Uchiha was right, but not for the reason he thought. The blond never saw the silver-haired man in any type of helpless situation, Kakashi had always found a way to never be defenseless. Kakashi answered solumly by saying "I am, Naruto-chan. It's... Not something that can be trained away. It's also the reason why I always have at least two guards on me when I'm working as a Dream Empath."

No one said anything for a complete minute.

"Naruto-chan, Haruno-san, Sasuke-kun," Kakashi said, getting the three's attention. "The fact that you three are on my team shows that the higher ups believe that you have great potential if they're making you my guards," Kakashi stated. This gave the three a very warm feeling. "But~, this also means you three are going to have to step it up and work really well together. Right, Naruto-chan?" Kakashi stated happily, knowing exactly what he was implying.

Naruto shouted "STOP CALLING ME NARUTO-CHAN!"

A thought came to Kakashi and said "Oh, right. Since you three are going to be doubling as my guards... All three of you are going to be sleeping at my place starting today."

Wait a minute...

"YOU MEAN I HAVE TO SLEEP UNDER THE SAME ROOF AS HIM!?" Naruto hollered as he pointed at Sasuke. The Uchiha wasn't happy with this too. Sakura was both overjoyed that she would be in the same housing as Sasuke but she was irritated that Naruto had to be there too. "Don't worry, Naruto-chan. My place is big enough so you boys don't have to share a room, so I do expect you all to behave in my home," Kakashi said with a small smile then added "I'll talk to all of your respective guardians about this. Oh, and be sure to pack your toothbrushes when you all pack your bags."

Well at least things aren't going to be boring...

}i{ }i{

1: Yes, Neji's father is alive in this fanfic.  
2: I know Tenten doesn't actually have a last name, but it did fell a bit weird in this story so I gave her one. Also, Buki is Japanese for Weapons. So it fits her style ^_^

}i{ }i{

 **ZY** : Ooooohhhh, looks like the three are going to be living together, somewhat... Wonder what kind of chaos will ensue. And the next chapter is going to be about Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke moving in and adjusting to living with their sensei and each other, and their first couple of small missions ^_^


	3. Chapter 3: First Day as Teams

**ZY** : The semester is over! I have more free time to write ^^

}i{ }i{

Dreams of Passion turned into Reality, Chapter 3; First Day as Teams.

}i{ }i{

Hatake Kakashi talked to the respective guardians of his new students, all gave their conceit. Although, Sakura's parents WERE a little worried about their daughter living with two teenage boys.

Kakashi gave his students some time to pack.

}i{ }i{ Two Hours Later, Naruto's Room }i{ }i{

Naruto was currently packing an oversized camping backpack full of everything he needs. He did have to admit, living with his family friend felt a bit strange. Okay, sure, he's slept at Kakashi's place before, but it was because his parents were meeting with the other Hokages in a neighboring village and had asked Kakashi to watch their son while they were gone. Thinking back to when Kakashi reviled to him that he was the Dream Empath. 'I mean come on, I don't have THAT big of a mouth, so they didn't have to keep Kakashi's abilities a secret from me...' Naruto thought as he shoved one of his blazing orange blazer into the bag. Naruto couldn't help but think what else his parents are keeping from him.

}i{ }i{ Uzumaki's Living Room }i{ }i{

"Minato, are you sure about that decision for Kakashi-kun's team?" Kushina asked her Soulmate. Minato nodded as he looked out the window. "Haruno Sakura got some of the highest marks on the written tests and chakra control, making her perfect for strategies. Uchiha Sasuke had some of the quickest reflexes of all of the students and is already mastering some very difficult jutsus, making him perfect for offensive combat," Minato explained to Kushina as she moved closer to him and asked "And Naruto?"

That was the exact moment where Naruto walked into the room, stating happily that he was completely packed and ready to go.

Naruto's parents were utterly flabbergasted at what they were seeing. Their son's backpack was twice as tall and wide as he was! How was he even lifting that thing?!

After the initial shock was half-way over, Minato asked in a very unsure tone "My goodness! Naruto, do you have you're entire room in there?" Naruto happily nodded and stated "Yup, I wanted to make sure I didn't forget anything, so... ^~^ " Kushina buried her face in her hands and stated "You do know you CAN always come back if you DID forget anything..."

Naruto cheekily rubbed the back of his head.

}i{ }i{ Uchiha Household }i{ }i{

Sasuke was using his bed to organizes what he was packing. His older brother was helping him.

Uchiha Itachi was easily a head and a half taller then his younger brother, had the same colored eyes and hair as his younger brother, but his hair was longer, half-way to his elbows and was loosely tied back. The older Uchiha was holding a checklist in his hand and was looking over it.

"Night Cloths," Itachi stated, going over the main things on his younger brother's list.

"Six pairs," Sasuke replied, smoothing out the neatly folded pile of cloths. Itachi checked that off.

"Shirts," was the next item.

"Eight pair," Sasuke replied as he finished counting the sed item.

Next item, "Trousers."

"Ten," Sasuke replied. Itachi looked up from the checklist with a raised brow. "Sasuke, I know you like to pack extra, but you don't need that many. Leave two here," Itachi said as he checked of the item. Sasuke put two of sed item back in one of his drawers.

"Okay, toothbrush, toothpaste, floss," Itachi stated.

"Check, check, and check," Sasuke said as he pointed at the three in order. The toothbrush was in a travel case, new bottle of toothpaste, and a full roll of floss.

"Soap, shampoo, conditioner,"

"Triple check," Sasuke said holding up a transparent bag that had all three inside. Itachi nodded and checked off all three.

"Shoes?" Itachi stated questionably.

"Spare pair is in the bag and the main pair is by the front door," Sasuke stated plainly. Itachi nodded and checked off the shoes. "I'm going to assume you have socks for those cold nights," Itachi stated plainly. Sasuke nodded.

The older Uchiha looked over the checklist again. "Alright. That's everything," Itachi said placing the list on the nearby nightstand. Sasuke nodded and started to pack everything into the bag he was taking with him to Hatake-san's place. Itachi just watched.

The younger Uchiha noticed that the older was watching him. "Something wrong, Ani (1)?" Sasuke asked. Itachi shook his head and said "Your moving out..." Sasuke smiled softly and said "It's not permanent, Itachi-nii." "I know, but still," Itachi said looking at the bag. Sasuke wrapped his arms around his older brother, hugged him, and said "Don't worry Ani, I'll make sure to drop by to visit you and Kisame-nii." Itachi hugged back and said "You'd better, or I will personally drag you home by the heels." Sasuke chuckled, his older brother had a weird sense of humor. Itachi poked Sasuke in the forehead with his index and middle finger and said teasingly "I mean it, kiddo."

There was a sudden surge of chakra. It was soft, gentle surge.

"Oh?" Itachi placed a hand on his swelling stomach. The older Uchiha said with a smile "I think the twins either agree with me, they don't want you to leave, or their upset you left them out." Sasuke chuckled, placed his own hand on his older brother's stomach, feeling the chakra of the two unborns, and asked "You and Kisame-nii think of names for these two?" Itachi shook his head, saying that they were still thinking of names for them.

Kisame walked in telling Sasuke that Hatake-san was here to pick him up. "Oh, crap, I'm not done packing," Sasuke stated then rushed away from Itachi to finish packing. The older Uchiha chuckled and said "We'll offer Hatake-san some tea while you finish." Sasuke thanked them and shoved some folded cloths in the duffle bag. Itachi and Kisame left Sasuke's room.

}i{ }i{ Haruno Household }i{ }i{

Sakura had packed everything she needed, right now she was munching on some snacks while she waited for her new sensei to pick her up. She was sooooo excited that she would be living under the same roof as Uchiha Sasuke, but, she was reeeeeeeeeeeeally peeved that Naruto had to be there too. The kunoichi didn't care that the blond was the son of the Hokage, Naruto was annoying, plain and simple. Even if he was a good ninja, after all, he did somehow managed to master the Shadow Clone Jutsu.

Sakura's mother walked into the room and told her daughter "Now sweetie, I want you to behave while you're living with Hatake-san." Sakura stated that she knows. Sakura's father walked in telling his daughter that her sensei and teammate were at the door.

Sakura picked up her bag, kiss both her parents goodbye, and left.

}i{ }i{ Outside the Haruno's Home }i{ }i{

"Kakashi-sensei... Should I be worried about, you know..." Sasuke asked Kakashi with a very slight nervous tone. "Not unless THAT's being seen by others. Just remember; your family, us, and the Hyūgas are the only ones who can see IT," Kakashi stated plainly, then added "I told you why it happens." Sasuke stated that he knew, but he couldn't help but worry about it a bit. Kakashi placed a hand on the Uchiha's head and said "Once you meet your Soulmate, it'll stop. If your Soulmate is anything like that image, then you needn't worry." Sasuke gave a small smile and thanked Kakashi-sensei.

Sakura greeted them as she left her house.

}i{ }i{ A Couple of Minutes Later, Outside the Uzumaki Household }i{ }i{

Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sakura had huge sweatdrops on their heads. They were in front of the Hokage's home, which was a nice family sized house, and they couldn't believe what they were seeing. The Hokage's son was stuck in the front door because his backpack was too big to fit through. Both Kushina and Minato were trying to help Naruto by pushing their son's backpack through the door and Naruto was pulling the backpack. It wasn't working.

Sasuke watched the scene for a few more minutes before walking up the the family. He unhitched Naruto from the backpack, pushed the oversized object into the house, turned it onto it's side, and slid it out of the house with absolutely no problem. Minato and Kushina thanked the Uchiha for his help. Sakura stated dreamily that Sasuke was soooo smart. Naruto was really glaring at Sasuke. Kakashi tried to suppress a snicker, but a small one escaped. 'This team is certainly not going to be boring. I wonder if Minato-sensei sees the resemblance?' Kakashi thought, doing his best to not to laugh.

"Naruto-chan, are you really planing on carrying that the entire trip to my place?" Kakashi asked as the blond hauled his oversized backpack onto his back. Naruto stated that he was and that it wasn't that heavy before he nearly lost his balance. With a nervous eye, Kakashi told Naruto "Alright, but if you need any help, just ask." Naruto scoffed at that, he didn't need help.

}i{ }i{ Naruto's POV During Their Walk to Kakashi's Place }i{ }i{

I don't need any help carrying this. It's not THAT heavy... Okay, I probably shouldn't have snapped at Kakashi, I mean... Okay... Yeah, I should apologies, when Sasuke's not around.

Urg. Why do I have to live with that guy? Oh great, he's smiling...

Hmmmmm, maybe, I can use this situation to my advantage. Yeah, I can learn Sasuke's weakness. Then, I can show everyone that he's not that great. Yup, I'm a genius ^~^

}i{ }i{ Sakura's POV During Their Walk to Kakashi's Place }i{ }i{

This is soooooooooooo exciting! Not only am I living with Uchiha Sasuke, but also a Dream Empath! The only downside to this is Naruto has to be here too. OMG, Sasuke's smiling! Couldn't help but squeal a bit.

Hmmmm, I wonder what our missions will be like?

}i{ }i{ Sasuke's POV During Their Walk to Kakashi's Place }i{ }i{

I glance at the blond annoyance, then I glance at that pink-haired girl. I reeeeeealy hope there's a good reason for me to be on the same team as these two idiots. My eyes landed on Kakashi-sensei. Well, at lest he's the Jōnin leader of this team.

My mind wondered to Ani's anniversary, that was coming up. I need to do something special, since Itachi-nii's carrying and all. Oh! I know exactly what to do! And as a bonus, that gift'll also be from the Hyūgas. Perfect. I couldn't help but smile a bit. I heard Sa-ku-ra, was it, squeal, and I saw that Naruto was glaring at me. Arg, those two are so annoying, and I have to live with them. Joy...

}i{ }i{ Back to Third Person POV }i{ }i{

"Here was are, everyone," Kakashi said happily.

The Hatake residence looked like a simple two story beige house with a light brown roof. Sasuke and Sakura weren't sure what to think of it, mostly because it wasn't what they expected it to be. The Uchiha could easily sense three or four Anbu Ninjas nearby, he could tell by their chakras that they were allies. 'Kakashi-sensei wasn't kidding about the guards,' Sasuke thought as he saw one of the Anbu on top of a nearby building.

Naruto blinked and asked "Hey, Kakashi, did you paint the roof? It's a different color then the last time I was here." Kakashi pulled out the house keys from a hidden pocket on his Jōnin vest and said "Nope, it's a new roof. Old one got a nasty hole in it after a failed attempt to abduct me." Naruto was surprised when he stated "You're kidding!?" Kakashi unlocked the door and said solemnly "I wish I was, but us Dream Empaths are practically a priceless living treasure. So it shouldn't be surprise that people want to capture one."

The three young ninjas were very quiet as all of them walked into the house. 'If Dream Empath abilities emerge between the ages of ten and thirteen...' Sakura thought. 'Then... That means that Kakashi had to deal with...' Naruto thought. 'Attempted abductions and kidnappings since he was in that age range...' Sasuke thought. 'That's gotta be a tough thing to go through,' the three young ninjas thought at the same time.

}i{ }i{

After everyone took off their shoes, Kakashi gave the three the grand tour of the house. They started off with the living room; there was a nice, big, cozy, gray sofa, an old but comfortable looking arm chair, a royal red throw rug with a rather plain brown coffee table, and a small gray-purple armchair. Enough room for everyone to sit and get comfortable. It was very homey.

/\v/\

The kitchen was next. It was very clean. Sparkling counter tops. Had a standard white refrigerator and freezer. The wood brown dinner table was polished and was surrounded by four chairs. One wood green, one brown, and two blue (one lighter then the other). "I restocked the kitchen when you guys were packing up, and I made sure not to buy any ramen ^_^," Kakashi stated happily as he patted Naruto on the head. Naruto pulled away and asked why he didn't. "You can eat ramen when you're in your house or at Ramen Ichiraku, but not in my house. You DO remember why, right?" Kakashi stated as he folded his arms and gave the blond a stern look. Naruto turned red and mumbled he remembered. 'I don't think I want to know,' Both Sakura and Sasuke thought as they raised a brow.

/\v/\

Kakashi showed his three team members/guards the two freed bathrooms. "Sakura gets one bathroom, so that means you boys have to share ^_^," Kakashi said with a mysterious gleam in his visible eye. Naruto felt himself grow sick when he said "Please tell me you're joking." Sasuke was also not very thrilled about that. "Nope ^_^," Kakashi said simply, he was having a little too much fun with this. Now Naruto WAS SICK.

}i{ }i{

Kakashi showed the three their respective rooms. That was when Sakura noticed a closed door next to Naruto's room. "What's in that room?" the pink-haired kunoichi asked her sensei. Kakashi was silent for a moment before he said "My father's room... If anyone wants to talk to him you can... He's a good listener," Kakashi said solemnly before he said that he'll give the three some time to unpack and than left.

Sakura raised a brow and asked out loud "He still lives with his dad?" 'I think I remember Ani mentioning something about Kakashi-sensei's father a couple of years ago,' Sasuke thought looking at the closed door. Naruto walked towards the door, opened it, and said in a cold tone, one that Sasuke and Sakura never heard on the blond, "His father's been dead for almost seven years." Inside the room was a bed, nightstand, closet, drawers, and a small black shrine. The shrine doors were opened, showing a picture of a man with silver-hair, he looked similar to Kakashi. "I met him... He was... A interesting guy and a great Shinobi..." Naruto said as he walked into his new room, to unpacked. Sakura wasn't sure what was more surprising; Naruto's cold tone or Kakashi's father. She decided to unpack to take her mind off it. Sasuke wanted to get a closer look at the man in the picture, so he walked into the room. Once he was in front of the frame, his eyes widened. Sasuke knew the man in the picture!

Sasuke placed his hands together, making sure his fingers were pointing towards the ceiling, and closed his eyes for a minute. 'Thank you,' Sasuke thought before leaving the room, making sure he closed the door behind him.

"GAAAAAH! I FORGOT MY TOOTHBRUSH!" Naruto suddenly shouted.

}i{ }i{ With Team 8 The Next Day }i{ }i{

Hyūga Hinata was absolutely, positively, NOT in a good mood. Neji's new sensei was Maito Gai, and he over-enthusiastically tried to "kidnapped" HER cousin/left hand/friend for some team building training exercise at six in the morning, this caused her father and uncle to become very irritated. Her father did try to explain to Gai that practicing that early wasn't a good idea, but the Green Beast could only understand it when her father explained that it wasted "youthful" energy. It was only made worse by the fact that "Gai-sensei" was lecturing Neji about how un-youthful it was to miss those "precious" team trust building exercises. Sooooo annoying.

Right now, Hinata and Kurenai-sensei were waiting for Shino and Kiba to arrive. "Hinata, there's no reason to be upset, we were early," Kurenai told Hinata when she notice that her student was glaring at the ground. "I'm not upset that those two are running late, I'm upset because Father wanted Neji and I on different teams," Hinata stated sourly. "Now, Hinata, I'm sure he had a good reason to," Kurenai stated with a small smile, but she was thinking that Hinata was experiencing a bit of separation anxiety. 'After all, I don't think she's ever been away from her cousin for a long period of time,' thought the female Jōnin.

Now the two tarty students finally arrived.

"Sorry we're late, sensei," Shino said in a breathless tone, Kiba and Akamaru were also out of breath. It looked liked they ran all the way from where ever they started from. Kurenai blinked and asked why the two were so out of breath before their training. "Dogs, *pants*, kept, *pants* asking, *pants*, about, *pants* us having, *pants*, puppies, *pants*, soon, *pants*," Kiba panted out, still trying to catch his breath. Now both Hinata and Kurenai blinked in confusion and asked "Puppies?" Shino caught his breath and said "Babies." "Ooooooohhhhh," Both of the females said at the same time. "You guys weren't trying to make "puppies" before you rushed here, did you?" Kurenai asked in a teasing manner. Shino turned pink and stated "N-no we weren't. We were trying to tell the dog that we weren't even going to try until we are wedded in a year and a half." Kiba, also pink, added "But then they started complaining that it would be ten and a half years for them and they wanted us to have "puppies" before the Alpha's time is up." Akamaru barked happily. "So you're saying that the Inuzaki dogs held you two up? Not you two having sex?" Hinata stated, snipping the last part. "OF COARSE NOT! ME AND CUDDLE BUG HAVE BEEN VERY ADIMIT ABOUT WAITING UNTIL WE'RE MARRIED!" Kiba practically shouted, now he was red. Shino grabbed ahold of Kiba's ear, pulling it, and said sternly with red on his cheeks "I believe I told you not to call me that pet name in public." Kiba was frantically apologizing, while adding a few ouches here and there.

'Oh! So they DO argue from time to time,' Hinata thought with a slight chuckle. That was when she realized that the dog-nin wasn't shouting and that everyone was looking at her. Shino was still holding Kiba's ear, but he wasn't pulling. Kurenai's mouth was slightly agape. Akamaru was just sitting with his eyes on her. "What?" Hinata finally asked, she was not use to these kinds of stares. "You laughed," The dog-nin finally said, pulling free from Shino's hold. "Huh?" was all Hinata could say. "Never heard you laugh before," Kiba stated, rubbing his sore ear. "I wasn't laughing," Hinata said sternly. "Yeah, ya were. We all heard it," Kiba said with a goofy grin. Akamaru barked in agreement.

Before a Did-not/Did-too match could start, Kurenai clapped her hands and said "Since we're all here, hows about we start with our training?" all agreed.

}i{ }i{ With Team 6 }i{ }i{

Neji was doing his best to tune out Gai-"sensei's" speech about youth and trust as they walked to the team's training ground. The paled-eyed teen couldn't care less about it. All he wanted was to be back at Hinata's side, like he was suppose to be. 'The only ones I can trust are my family and the Uchihas, no one else,' Neji thought they came to the team's training ground. Lee and Tenten were already there. "Good news my youthful student! *Pats Neji on the back rather hard* I convinced our missing comrade to join in on our youthful trust training exercise!" Gai stated over-zealously. Neji scowled and thought 'Why do I have to be on a team where the sensei and a teammate are complete fools?'

"Alright, Neji lets start your trust exercise with Lee," Gai said with a blinding smile. Neji glared at his new sensei while Lee's heart was doing flips in his chest. "Neji, just do the exercise quickly. It'll be less painful that way," Tenten said noticing the tension around the Hyūga. "Fine," Neji said sourly and then thought 'At least ONE of my teammates has brains.' Giving Neji a thumbs up and a smile, Lee said happily "Do not worry Neji, I will make sure we do these exercises with youthful energy!" 'I hope this will bring us closer together,' Lee thought, keeping that grin on his face. All the paled-eyed teen did was glare holes through the green-clad teen. 'Or at least show him that he CAN trust me,' Lee thought as the corner of his lips twitched.

}i{ }i{ With Team 7 }i{ }i{

"Target, sighted. Heading your way Naruto-chan," Kakashi said over their wireless communication headset. "I see the target and don't add the chan to my name," Naruto stated plainly. Kakashi chuckled over the coms. "Get ready to strike, Naruto," Sakura stated sternly over the coms. 'Come to think of it... Why does Kakashi-sensei call him Naruto-chan rather then Naruto-kun?' Sakura wondered as the blond jumped the target.

}i{ }i{ Outside a Family Home }i{ }i{

Sasuke did an entire sweep on the house. No traps, weapons, or listening devises, except for a pair of baby monitors, inside. It was a clean. Now all he needed to do was to wait for his team to get here. They would be seeing Kakashi-sensei in action as a Dream Empath today. 'Although, I've already seen it done,' The Uchiha thought, he couldn't help but smirk a bit.

"Sasuke~Kun," the Uchiha could hear Sakura shout. Sasuke sighed and turned to the direction of his team. The first thing he noticed was Naruto covered in scratches. "What happened to you?" Sasuke asked the blond. Kakashi patted the blond on the head and said "He accidentally stepped on the target's tail during the capture." That mission was a Rank D: Finding a missing cat. "Should I at least ask if the mission was completed?" Sasuke asked Kakashi-sensei. Naruto blurted out "Of coarse it was completed, we just, had a slight mishap, that's all." The Uchiha ignored Naruto and told the Jōnin that the house was secure.

/\v/\ /\v/\

Because Kakashi had an appointment for his Dream Empath ability during the Missing cat mission. So, He let the three Genins draw straws, the one with the longest straw gets to secure the job site for Kakashi. Sasuke drew the longest. Naruto wasn't happy about it, but it was a fair draw.

/\v/\ /\v/\

"Thank you so much for coming sir," said a man in his late 30s. His wife was sitting on the couch with a 18-month-old baby in her arms. "It's no trouble at all," Kakashi said with a smiling eye. "Umm... If you don't mind me asking... Who needs Kakashi-sensei's help?" Sakura asked the man, and he replied "My daughter." and motioned the four to come in.

"Awww, how cute ^~^" Naruto said trying to get the baby to play with his fingers, but the baby didn't move. The man explained that the baby had been rather depressed for the passed week, barley eating and having nightmares. "Did anything happen before the nightmares?" Kakashi asked the man. "Well... Our cat passed away. She was really close with our daughter, but I don't think she understands that," the woman said hugging her baby close. The Jōnin shook his head and said "No, she understands quite well." "But she's still a baby! How she understand the concept of death!" The man said, nearly shouting. Walking over to the baby, Kakashi said "Babies know more then you think. She may not understand what death is or what it does, all she know is that her kitty-cat is no longer here to be with her. So she's thinking that your cat left her." Naruto then said "So... She's grieving without even knowing it." Kakashi nodded. "I can lessen the impact of the nightmares on her, but she'll still have them," the Dream Empath said as he cradled the baby in his arms. The parents quickly agreed.

The Dream Empath pressed his fingers against the baby's forehead. Almost instantly, the baby fell asleep and Kakashi closed his eyes. The Jōnin was completely still. Both Sakura and Naruto were amazed by this. Sasuke told his teammates that they needed to keep an eye out for any potential threats.

}i{ }i{ About 30 Minutes Later }i{ }i{

The baby was still sleeping peacefully in Sasuke's arms. "She'll be fine, still sad, but fine," Kakashi said picking up a photograph of the baby and a white cat with black ears. "Umm, if we get another cat with the same markings..." the father asked the Dream Empath. "I don't want to sound inconsiderate, but I think you should get one soon and not with the same markings, it'll hurt your daughter's mind more then it'll help. If you get a new cat that doesn't look like your previous cat, it'll help her recognized that her old friend is gone but not forgotten and it'll heal her," Kakashi explained, then added "I suggest getting an adult cat rather than a kitten. Adult cats'll be less likely to bite and scratch the baby, and it'll be best to get one with a mild temperament. I recommend going to the animal shelter with your baby to she if she really like any of the cats." The parents nodded happily, they were thinking about getting another cat but weren't sure if they should do it right away. "Thank you," Both parents said then taking their daughter from the Uchiha. The Jōnin and the Genins waved good-bye to the family and left.

}i{ }i{

"Are most of your clients like that?" Naruto asked Kakashi on their way to the center of the village. Kakashi took a breath before saying cryptically "Some are, some aren't, and some don't even know they need help." Things were quiet for a minute.

"Ummm, Sasuke-kun... Why did you want to hold the baby?" Sakura asked her raven-haired teammate. As much as seeing the image of Sasuke holding a baby made her heart race, she was a bit curious on why he wanted to. Sasuke sighed then said coldly "It's none of your business." Kakashi let out a soft chuckle. Naruto blinked and then said sheepishly "That wouldn't have to do with the fact that Itachi's carrying, would it?" Sasuke froze. Sakura asked it it was true. "Naruto, how would you even know that?" Kakashi asked sternly. With his hands behind his head, Naruto said sheepishly "I might have been in dad's office when Itachi was taken off the mission roster because he was pregnant." Kakashi hit the blond on the head, hard. Naruto shouted "WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!" The Jōnin stated plainly "For that big mouth of yours. Damn it, Naruto, that particulare information was SUPPOSE TO BE KEPT QUITE! You're practically putting not only Itachi's life, but also the child's life in danger! This is why you're never told anything important." Sasuke was red with anger, he REALLY wanted to kill the blond.

Now Naruto felt bad. He really should have known better. Especially after the Uchiha Massacre... Sasuke walked briskly ahead from his team, he really needed to get away from Naruto, RIGHT NOW.

Kakashi bonked Naruto on the head and said "I want you to apologies to Sasuke before the end of the day, or you'll really be sorry." The blond casted his eyes to the ground "Understood..."

Sakura just stayed silent, not really sure what to say or do.

}i{ }i{ With Sasuke and his POV }i{ }i{

That idiot! Ani's pregnancy was suppose to only be known by the medical staff, the Hyūgas, and the higher ups? After THAT HORRIBLE EVENT, it should have been kept under wraps! How can he be the Hokage's son!? He's too stupid!

"Sasuke... Calm down. You're not looking where you're going."

I stopped. My Soulmate... Well my "DayDream Vision" (2) of my Soulmate anyway.

I felt my DDVS (2) place a hand on my shoulder and say "I know you're mad, but you need to take a deep breath and relax a bit."

I did as my DDVS said. I felt much better. Oh, I'm standing in front of the Mission Hall, where I was heading for in the first place. "Feeling better, love?" asked my DDVS. 'A bit... Thank you,' I told my DDVS, then added 'But...' "No Buts. Naruto's got a big mouth and doesn't use his head much, you know that, it's not a reason to kill him. We will never meet if you do,' my DDVS said sternly. It was a good point...

I leaned against the wall near the entrance door of the building and waited for my team. My DDVS kissed my cheek and said "I love you Sasuke" before vanishing. I love you too... And I can't wait to meet you in person...

My team finally appeared five minutes later. We turned in the missions reports. I made sure not to look at the blond idiot, I would probably kill him if I did.

}i{ }i{ Later That Night, Normal POV }i{ }i{

Sasuke just pulled on his night shirt when he heard a knock on his door. 'Who could it be?' Sasuke wondered, only Kakashi-sensei and Sakura had enough sense to knock. Maybe one of them wanted to say good-night or something. It would probably Sakura.

When Sasuke opened the door, he was face-to-face with bright but sad blue eyes. It was Naruto! The Uchiha slammed the door shut before the blond could say anything. "HEY! SASUKE! I just wanted to talk to you!" Naruto said knocking on the door as he spoke. "Go away. There nothing I want to talk to YOU about," Naruto could hear Sasuke say through the door, he sounded really pissed. Naruto stopped knocking and said sadly "I just wanted to say that... I'm sorry... I... Didn't mean to, I mean, I didn't think..." That was when Sasuke suddenly shouted through the closed door "That's your problem, Naruto! You NEVER THINK about anything! Seriously! What if there were enemies around when you said that! Or even the people who murdered my family! You could've put not only Ani's life in danger, but also Kisame-nii and the babies' life with that mouth of yours! They're the only family I have left..." Naruto was quiet, he reeeeeeealy messed up...

"Sasuke... You're right... I do run my mouth a bit too much... And I sometimes don't think before I speak... But... I meant it when I said I was sorry..." Naruto finally said. As much as the blond hated the Uchiha, he didn't mean to hurt him, at least, not like that. Naruto didn't know what he'd do if he lost his parents like that, so he guessed it was worse for Sasuke and Itachi, whom lost their entire clan...

"I'm going to bed soon... You'd better not be there when I open the door," Sasuke said flatly. Naruto's eyes looked to the crack between the door and the floor, somehow, he knew the Uchiha wouldn't forgive him. It would have been a miracle if he did. Naruto turned away from the door and walked to his own room. This was NOT how the blond envisioned the conversation to be.

Sakura heard the entire thing from her room. She knew that she shouldn't have been easdropping, but... She hugged her knees to her chest. 'This isn't what I thought was going to happen when we were made into a team,' Sakura thought as she rested her chin on her knees. She wasn't sure who to feel sorrier for at the moment. Right now, Sakura hoped that they could at least try to work together tomorrow.

}i{ }i{ The Next Morning }i{ }i{

The best word to describe what was happening between Naruto and Sasuke would be Tense, but even that was an understatement.

Team 7 was waiting for their next mission in the meeting lounge of the Mission Hall. Kakashi-sensei was meeting with the Hokage at the moment, so he wasn't around to see Sakura trying to mend the gap between the two.

}i{ }i{ The Hokage's Office }i{ }i{

The leader of Team 7 finished telling the Hokage about what happened yesterday. "Really?" Minato asked his former student, whom nodded. The Hokage burried his face in one of his hands when he said "I scolded and punished him for that damn mouth of his I don't know how many times, and yet..." Kakashi cut in by saying "If it's any conselation... I think this time he realized that there are serious consequences. I just hope no one with malicious intentions heard." Minato agreed and said "But that IS going to effect their teamwork." The only thing Kakashi said was Unfortunately.

Minato thought for a bit, then handed Kakashi a mission scroll. "This mission calls for you're Dream Skills and your team's co-operation. It's simple and is not really that dangerous, hopefully this'll help mend a little bit of the damage my son has created." Kakashi nodded and left the office.

}i{ }i{

The Dream Empath walked into the lounge and said "Good news ^_^, we got a C Ranked mission ^_^," Sakura and Naruto were happy about that, Sasuke wasn't that thrilled.

Kakashi explained it was a bodyguard mission and a Dream mission. They had to guard a bridge builder named Tazuna from bandits and the village he was heading to was having a nightmare plague (there were no Dream Empaths in that village).

"I want all of you to work together on this, so Naruto, Sasuke, whatever is going on between you stays here, not on the mission. Got it?" Kakashi said seriously. "Yes, Kakashi-sensei," Both Naruto and Sasuke said sourly at the same time. Kakashi sighed and added sternly "I mean it you two. You three are on your first serious mission, so I really need you to put your differences aside for now. You also need to work together for when I'm in that village's Dream Plain." There was a moment of silence. 'He's got a point...' Naruto and Sasuke thought at the same time, so they nodded.

"Okay~ ^_^, now let's meet the client ^_^," Kakashi said happily as everyone left the lounge.

}i{ }i{

1) Ani means Older Brother in Japanese.

2) DayDream Visions of Soulmates, or DDVS, occer when someone has images of their Soulmate when they are wide awake. Sometimes they can even talked to them like they where there, like with Sasuke. This happens as often as rain in the desert, and it only happens when, well, you'll see why later in the story.

}i{ }i{

 **ZY** : Yay, Zabuza and Haku will be in the next chapter.


	4. Chapter 4: The Real Mission

ZY: Winter Break. Hurray.

}i{ }i{

Dreams of Passion turned into Reality, Chapter 4: The Real Mission

}i{ }i{

The mission wasn't going so well for Team 7... Their client was almost killed 3/4 of the way to the Land of Waves. Two rouge ninjas appeared out of nowhere and practically played off the bad vibe Naruto and Sasuke had with one another and nearly killed Tazuna, but thanks to some quick action from Sakura and Kakashi, he was fine. The kunoichi pulled a surprised punch on one of the rouges, effectively breaking his nose and stunning the other long enough for Kakashi to subdue. Team 7 also learnt that Tazuna lied about the difficulty of the mission, the mission was probably a Rank B or A, but he could only afford a Rank C mission, and that an evil tycoon named Gatō wanted him dead. And worse yet, Kakashi was REALLY scolding the blond and Uchiha for not only their lack of teamwork but also nearly letting the rouges kill the client because of their disagreement. The two Genins had the huge bumps on their heads to prove the Jōnin's dissatisfaction.

"Not to pry, but what happened between those two to make them act that way with eachother?" the bridge builder asked Sakura. She was silent for a minute before saying "They... Had a... Really bad argument..." Tazuna didn't need to hear anymore to understand that.

Not even seven minutes later, Team 7 ran into a new enemy. The Demon of the Hidden Mist, Zabuza.

}i{ }i{ Back in Konohagakure }i{ }i{

"You just missed him. He's currently on a mission that took his team outside the village," Itachi told Hinata and Neji, as he poured some green tea for everyone. Kisame then added "He'll be gone for a while, But we'll let you know when he gets back and I hope he gets back before our anniversary." Itachi agreed. Hinata said that it was fine. Itachi immediately picked up on the vibe the two Hyūgas were giving off and asked if there was something wrong and if it had to do with them being on different teams. The Hyūgas nodded. "I'm sure Hiashi had a reason for it, I mean, he wouldn't do it knowing how it would effect you two without a good reason," Kisame said trying to cheer up the two, but he wasn't doing so well on that. Itachi elbowed him in the gut for it. "Ano, you guys getting ready for the twins when they arrive?" Neji asked trying to get off the current topic.

Kisame grinned and said "We just finished painting the new baby room purple." "Why purple?" the Hyūgas asked in unison. "Well, we are having a girl and a boy," Itachi said with a chuckle, then added "Plus purple is a good colour for both genders." Kisame nodded in agreement and said "We also got tons of diapers, lots of baby clothes, couple of blankets, six bottles, a stroller for two, and some toys for them." "You didn't say you had a crib for them." Hinata said to the older ninjas. The two nodded their heads. Kisame explained as Itachi sipped his tea "Since the twins are technically citizens of both the Land of Fire and the Land of Water, we want a crib to represent that. We haven't found one that does yet." Hinata and Neji nodded, they understood, they knew that the pair wanted their children to be cultured in both parents' nations of origin.

"We wish you two luck with your search," Neji said with a smile and Hinata added "And if you need a babysitter, Hanabi has already volunteered." Itachi raised a brow and said "Did she now? Then I hope she's finish all of her babysitting training before the twins arrive." Kisame patted his Soulmate's stomach. Hinata smiled and said "Don't worry, she'll be ready for them." The Soulmates chuckled a bit. "I certainly hope so," Kisame said with a laugh.

All present could feel the twins' joy.

}i{ }i{ With Team 7 }i{ }i{

The battle between the Missing Ninja Zabuza and Kakashi of the Sharingan was epic, at least in Naruto's opinion. Team 7 was totally surprised by the red and black wheel eye in Kakashi-sensei's left eye socket, Sasuke especially. He explained what the Sharingan does and he also explained that it was a rare and unique ability that only belongs to the Uchiha Clan. "Wait are you serious?!" Naruto exclaimed, he knew for a fact that Kakashi was not a member of the Uchiha clan. "I'm completely serious. Itachi-nii has the Sharingan and already mastered it," Sasuke stated in a serious tone. "So... How did Kakashi-sensei get that Sharingan?" was all Sakura asked her teammates.

The battle continued until the two where over a lake and Zabuza trapped Kakashi in a Water Prison Jutsu. "FORGET ABOUT ME! GET TAZUNA OUT OF HERE!" Kakashi shouted at his team, urging them to get out of here while Zabuza had him trapped, since he couldn't move while the prison jutsu was activated.

There was no way they were leaving their sensei. If things couldn't get any worse, Zabuza created a water clone on himself to kill them.

Naruto jumped into the air and used the Kage Bunshin No Jutsu to create ten clones on himself. The shadow clones weren't a match for Clone Zabuza when they tried to dog pile on him. Naruto pulled a blade out of his bag and tossed it quickly to the Uchiha. Sasuke caught the windmill shurinken, thought 'So that's the plan! Surprisingly good thinking from that baka', spun in the air, and opened the weapon completely. The Uchiha aimed the weapon at the real Missing-nin and threw it with amazing accuracy. But the older ninja caught the weapon and easily dodged the windmill shuriken that was hidden in the first's shadow. Zabuza chuckled and said "Nice try brats."

"I'M NOT DONE!" Shouted a voice from behind Zabuza. When the Missing Ninja looked behind him, he saw Naruto aiming his kuni knife at him! Zabuza pulled his arm out of the Water Prison to avoid the kuni, thus releasing Kakashi from the justu.

That was when Zabuza realized that the first windmill shuriken was an ordinary weapon, the one in the shadow was Naruto. Kage Bunshin No Jutsu was a ruse! The plan was to use the first shuriken as a distraction and to allow Naruto-in-shuriken form to get behind Zabuza. Clever, but now Zabuza was pissed! He was about to use the windmill blade on the blond, whom fell into the water, when Kakashi stopped the blade with the back of his own hand. "About time the two of you started working as a team. Good plan," Kakashi said to Naruto and Sasuke.

Now the battle between the Missing-nin and the Copy-nin continued. Kakashi was gaining an edge by predicting all of Zabuza's moves with his Sharingan.

The next thing everyone knew, Zabuza had sharpened wooden needles piercing his throat as he fell to the ground, dead. That was when everyone saw the Hunter-nin, whom said politely "I apologies for taking your kill, sir. But, I needed him dead." Kakashi quickly checked to see if Zabuza had a pulse, he didn't. The Demon of the Hidden Mist was dead.

The Hunter-nin politely bowed and said "Thank you very much. I have been searching for the opportunity to kill Zabuza for a long time." Naruto was looking back and forth between the corps and the Hunter-nin, before finally shouting "WHAT THE HELL?! WHO ARE YOU?!" Kakashi started walking towards his team and said to the blond "Don't worry Naruto-chan, he's no enemy." Before Naruto could argue, Kakashi patted his head and said "I know how you feel, Naruto-chan, but it's true. That there's someone younger than you, but stronger than me." Naruto was actually quiet for a bit. 'There's no way in hell that this Hunter-nin's stronger than Itachi-nii,' Sasuke thought, keeping his narrowed eyes on the new arrival.

The Hunter-nin disappeared and then re-appeared next to the corp. He said something about having to dispose of the body and vanished with the corp that was twice his size with a farewell.

Kakashi covered his Sharingan with his headband and said "All right, let's take Tazuna-san home." The bridge builder was happy and thankful, and offered the ninjas to rest at his home for a bit before heading back to their village. Suddenly, the Jōnin fell to the ground. "KAKASHI-SENSEI!" all three Genins shouted in unison. "I... Guess... I used the... Sharingan too much..." Kakashi muttered wirily, his body couldn't even twitch.

}i{ }i{ Back in Konohagakure }i{ }i{

Lee was doing push-ups in a forestry area of the village. His goal was 500 push-ups in a row. Sweat was rolling down his brow, he only needed five more. He needed to be stronger.

Four more left.

He had to prove to Neji that he was his Soulmate.

Three more.

Prove to everyone that he was not weak.

Two more.

Prove that he was a Taijutsu master.

One more.

Prove to the Hyūgas that he was perfect for Neji, to be by his side through thick and thin.

500 push-ups completed.

Lee was panting as big drops of sweat fell off his face. He collapsed on the ground. He rolled to his back to look up at the blue sky. The clouds were really white and puffy today. 'Neji doesn't seem to really trust the team all to much... I wonder why?' Lee thought, panting out a couple of breaths. The young Taijutsu master knew SOMETHING was preventing Neji from trusting others, it showed during the trust exercises.

Lee sighed. He knew getting Neji to acknowledge him would be a challenge in of itself, but he didn't know it would be THAT challenging. Lee closed his eyes, remembering the gentle smile Neji gave him in his Soulmate Dream. Lee opened his eyes to stare at the sky and thought 'Yes, it would be completely worth it.' And he knows that Neji will appreciate it too.

}i{ }i{ With Team 7 }i{ }i{

Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, and Tazuna somehow managed to carry Kakashi to Tazuna's daughter's house, she said her name was Tsunami. She was glad that her father was alright and that the ninjas who helped were okay too. Kakashi said that he'll be fine in a day or two to help the village with the nightmare plague. He explained that Dream Empaths recover twice as fast as a normal ninja.

"Kakashi-sensei, how did you get that Sharingan?" Sasuke asked his sensei seriously, both Sakura and Naruto where egger to know as well. Kakashi sighed and said "I knew this would happen when I had to use it... I'll explain it all when we return to Konohagakure..." "But Kakashi!" Naruto started, but Kakashi interrupted by saying "Please." Everyone was quiet yet again. The Jōnin finished explained "I have a job as a Dream Empath to help the village with the nightmares and I need to have a clear mind when I do. Remembering that particular memory... Will... Not keep my mind clear. So please, wait until we finish this mission, then I'll tell you everything..." things where quiet for a while before Sasuke asked "Can you at least say if you treasure that eye?" Sakura noted that that was a odd question to ask. Kakashi quietly said "Yes, I do... That's all I can say until we finish the mission." That was when he finally lost consciousness.

After another moment of silence, Tsunami asked if the Genins wanted anything to drink.

}i{ }i{ Meanwhile }i{ }i{

The Hunter-nin took Zabuza's corps to an unknown location. Before the hunter could do anything, the corps came back to life and pulled one of the needles out of his throat. "Oh! Be careful or you really will die," the Hunter-nin said as Zabuza took the second needle out. The Missing-nin asked the Hunter-nin how long he was going to wear that mask. "Hehe, sorry, but it reminds me of the good days and it was useful," the fake hunter-nin said as he removed the mask. He was no older than Naruto.

The fake hunter then said "If I hadn't saved you, you definitely would have been killed." Zabuza spat out some blood and said "If you were going to put me into a Momentary Death, you didn't have to use my neck. You could have aimed for a safer acupuncture point. You're annoying as always, Haku." The fake hunter, Haku, chuckled and said "You're right!" then added "I just didn't want to scar your beautiful body... And the neck doesn't have much muscle. It's easier to hit the acupuncture points there. You shouldn't be able to move much for about a week though. But, you might be able to move pretty soon." Zabuza sighed and said "You can be so pure and clever... That's what I like about you." A mischievous gleam appeared in Haku's eyes when he said "Pure, me?" then he rubbed himself against Zabuza's leg.

"Oh, Kami! What where you thinking about to get that hard!" Zabuza said as soon as he felt what was under Haku's clothing. How on earth did he, or anyone else in this case, NOT notice THAT. Haku smiled and said "It wasn't something I was thinking of. Watching you fight that ninja really turned me on." Zabuza sighed and said "You're only unbearable when you get like this. Fine, find something to use as lubricant." Haku pulled a small bottle from his pocket, showed it to Zabuza, and said with a smile "Already have some ^^." 'Does he really carry that around with him?' Zabuza thought with a sweatdrop.

}i{ }i{ Back with Team 7 }i{ }i{

Kakashi's eyes immediately shot open, scaring the living daylights out of Sakura and Naruto. The two were trying to find out what was under that mask their sensei was wearing. Kakashi sat up sluggishly and put a hand on his covered face.

"Crap, I just realized something. Something important..." Kakashi said in a serious tone. "What is it?" Naruto asked. "Hunter-nins usually dispose of the body of the person they killed right there." All three Genins were confused. Kakashi continued "How'd that Hunter-nin dispose of Zabuza's body?" Sakura shrugged and said "How could we know? The masked boy took his body with him." "Yeah... If he needed proof of his work, he could have just taken the head. And the weapon that he used to kill Zabuza..." Kakashi stated firmly. 'The needles...' Sasuke thought, then it hit him like a ton of bricks and he said "No way." Kakashi nodded. Tazuna asked what they were talking about. Kakashi answered by saying that Zabuza was still alive.

Everyone was in utter shock by those words.

}i{ }i{ In That Unknown Location }i{ }i{

"Ah!" Zabuza groaned out as Haku added another finger. The Missing-nin was on his knees, his slacks were hanging on a nearby branch, he was using his knees, elbows, and arms for support, his forehead was resting on his left arm, and his ass was in the air. Haku was moving his lubricated fingers in and out of Zabuza's anus. The fake Hunter-nin was using his other hand to rub the lube on his dick. 'He's...Ah!... A little... Ah!...Too good at this,' Zabuza thought, shaking in pleasure.

The Missing-nin suddenly gasped. "Oh~ Looks like I found that magic spot~" Haku said happily. "Haku, what did I tell you about saying stuff like that when we're doing this," Zabuza tried to say sternly, but Haku's ministrations were making it very hard to do so. "Sorry~" Haku didn't sound all too sorry.

}i{ }i{ With Team 7 }i{ }i{

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN?!" Naruto excamed, and Sakura shouted "KAKASHI-SENSEI, YOU CHECKED AND SAID HE WAS DEAD!" Calmly, Kakashi said "Yeah I did. But most that was most likely, just a Momentary Death." The Jōnin continued to explain "The needle that the Hunter-nin used... Unless it hits a vital organ, it has a low probability of killing your opponent. It's even an item used by doctors in acupuncture therapy. I'm sure his goal wasn't to kill Zabuza, but to save him."

}i{ }i{ In That Unknown Location }i{ }i{

Zabuza gasped as Haku entered him. 'Damn... He's still too big for his age... No matter how many times we do this,' The Missing-nin thought trying to adjust to the appendage inside him then thought 'But it's still feels good.' Haku slowly sank into the older ninja. He knew he lubricated himself well enough and stretched the older ninja, but it was still a tight fit. 'Ah~ Zabuza-sama feels soooo good and warm~' Haku thought blissfully, sinking himself into Zabuza to the hilt.

}i{ }i{ With Team 7 }i{ }i{

Kakashi explained that a person who is put into a Momentary Death will be unable to move for a week or so until their body returned to normal. "So... You'll be in fighting shape before Zabuza..." Sakura said. Kakashi nodded and said "I will be, but I'm not sure if he knows that I am a Dream Empath, or that I have a mission to help with the nightmares here, or even if that Gatō knows about me being here." Sasuke folded his arms and said "If Gatō does know... Then our mission just became a bit more complicated. The guy's not the most honest person in the world, not to mention people like him would just love to have a living treasure, like a Dream Empath." Tazuna lowered his eyes to the ground and said "If Gatō is going to after you Kakashi-sensei, then..." Tsunami added "Our village will continue to suffer form the nightmares... Just like that monster wants..."

}i{ }i{ In That Unknown Location }i{ }i{

Haku flipped Zabuza onto his back before he continued to thrust into the older nin. The younger ninja was able to reach deeper into the Missing-nin in this position. Zabuza kept his arms above his head, preventing his head from hitting the tree. Haku love this position the most, being able to see the older ninja like this, willingly letting him have control like this, it just added to the younger ninja's pleasure.

}i{ }i{ With Team 7 }i{ }i{

"Mom, Grandpa..." asked a young boy, half the age of the Genins, with short spiky black hair, black eyes, and was wearing a white shirt and green overalls. Tsunami quickly looked towards the front door and said "Oh, Inarī, your back." Tazuna said hi to his grandson. Inarī spotted the ninjas out of the corner of his eyes and asked who they are. Tsunami happily said "These are the people who helped your grandpa get home safely, and the silver-haired man is the Dream Empath who's going to help us with the all of those horrible nightmares." The boy's eyes lit up and raced up to Kakashi asking him if he really was a Dream Empath. With a tired smiling eye, Kakashi said "I am. But, I sorry to say that right now I cannot help anyone. I need to rest a bit longer, to regain some of my chakra." the Genins could tell that Kakashi WAS doing his best to stay conscious.

"But, even in this state, I can tell that you're plagued by the nightmares," Kakashi added before laying back down on the futon. Tsunami told everyone that Kakashi was right, Inarī unwillingly agreed. Kakashi continued "And I can also tell that the nightmare isn't natural. Which means I can assume that Gatō has a couple of Nightmare Radios (1) scattered around the village." Tazuna was shocked by that and said "Come to think of it... Gatō's goons have been killing anyone who get close to certain places, even if they get close by accident. They even killed a four-year-old kid who was just following a butterfly and unwittingly got too close to one of those location." While being completely disgusted with this Gatō guy, Sakura was completely impress with Kakashi's deduction as she said "Wow Kakashi-sensei, you MUST really be a really strong Dream Empath if you can sense what kind of nightmare someone's having without even going into their Dream Plain." Kakashi said nothing, apparently he fell back to sleep. It didn't seem like he was going to wake up anytime soon.

"Whether Gatō or Zabuza are aware of Kakashi-sensei's abilities or not, we still need to be on our guard to protect him when he's working," Sasuke said seriously. Naruto and Sakura nodded. "We were chosen specifically to double as Kakashi's guards. So there's no way any of us are going to let him or our village down," Naruto stated both proudly and seriously.

}i{ }i{ In That Unknown Location }i{ }i{

The two ninjas where in their own world of pleasure. Haku was really thrusting into Zabuza. The older ninja's penis was leaking pre-cum, and those droplets where flying all over his body because of the momentum of the younger ninja. "Zabuza..." Haku gasped out. "Yeah, I'm close too," Zabuza said in a haze of pleasure.

}i{ }i{ With Team 7 }i{ }i{

Sasuke turned away from the blond and said coldly "Long as you don't run that mouth of yours, then things'll be fine." Naruto opened his mouth to say something, but he closed it almost immediately. He knew what the Uchiha meant. Sasuke was actually surprised that Naruto didn't snap back. Sakura quickly pipped in by saying "Come on guys, remember what sensei said about that? Until the mission is over, don't fight each other." The two knew she had a point.

}i{ }i{ In That Unknown Location }i{ }i{

Zabuza was laying on the ground, unconscious, panting, and covered in his own semen. Haku slowly and gently pulled out of the older ninja. A big glob of the younger ninja's semen leaked out of the older ninja's anus. Haku took a minute to get down from his high, taking in the sight of Zabuza, and he said "I better clean him up and get him to base."

}i{ }i{ With Team 7 }i{ }i{

Sasuke stood up and said that he was going to summon a messenger bird to send to the Hokage, explaining the circumstances of the mission had change. "Do you think dad'll send another team to help?" Naruto asked the Uchiha. "I certainly hope so... I'm not sure if the three of us can handle all of Gatō's goons and destroy the Nightmare Radios," Sasuke said looking through his bag to find the summon scroll. "What about Zabuza and that fake hunter?" Sakura asked. "Kakashi-sensei'll deal with Zabuza... I'll handle that fake hunter," Sasuke said as he pulled out the scroll. "What makes you think you can handle that kid?" Naruto said suspiciously. As Sasuke stood up to leave the house, he said "Do YOU really think you can defeat him?" then he walked out. Naruto looked at the floor. 'Could I?' Naruto thought to himself. Sakura didn't say anything, but she needed to do something. So, after a minute, she got up to follow Sasuke. Naruto didn't really feel like stopping her.

}i{ }i{ Sasuke POV }i{ }i{

I wrote the letter to the Hokage on the scroll and then summoned the messanger bird. "Go straight to Konohagakure and give the message to Hokage-sama," I ordered the bird, whom nodded and then flew off.

"How long are you going to stay mad at Naruto? It's obvious that he already feels horrible about what he said," asked an all too familiar voice to me. "I'm... Not sure..." was all I can answer. "Sasuke, I know he messed up, but he's obviously trying to make it up to you. Maybe, just acknowledge that he IS trying, just a little bit," my DDVS told me. "I... Can try... But, I'm still not sure if I can ever forgive him," I said looking at the ground. I felt my DDVS's arms wrap around me and said "I'm sure he'll think of something to do to mend the bridge between you. After all, when does he ever give up?" I can think of one thing. "True, but did he give up because they kept pushing him away or because he saw nothing he could do?" My DDVS asked me, knowing full well what I was thinking. Damn, it was a really good point.

}i{ }i{ Normal POV }i{ }i{

Sakura was just around the corner from where Sasuke was. "I'm... Not sure..." She could hear the Uchiha say. 'Huh?' Sakura thought. Was Sasuke doubting his own abilities? "I... Can try... But, I'm still not sure if I can ever forgive him." Sasuke said. 'Is he talking to someone?' Sakura thought as she peered around the corner, making sure he couldn't see her. But only Sasuke was there, no one else. 'Was he talking to himself?' was all Sakura could think. Sasuke gave a semi-smirk and said "Why is it you always have to make a point?" From what Sakura could see, it did look like he was talking to someone. "I do have to wonder if the real you is like this," Sasuke said with a smile.

Now it HIT her like a truck. 'Oh Kami... He's... Having a conversation with a DayDream Vision of his Soulmate!' Sakura thought with a look of utter shock on her face. Now with a sullen look on her face, she thought 'So that means... He's already had his Soulmate Dreams... And I'm not his Soulmate...' Tenten was right... All she had WAS a crush on the Uchiha, and by the way he was talking... His Soulmate was not in Iruka-sensei's class. So that meant... No one in Sakura's class was his Soulmate! No one... Now Tenten's words, that Sakura brushed off, WERE indeed the truth. It hurt more than Sakura could have ever imagine...

Sakura decided it be best to leave Sasuke alone, and left.

}i{ }i{ 48 Hours Later }i{ }i{

Over the next two days, Team 7 kept a low profile. They wore disguises when they left Tsunami's house, and they kept close to Inarī, so they didn't get lost. Kakashi was unable to go into the main areas of the village because of the Nightmare Radio frequencies. Those two days where not wasted, the three Genins found out where all of the Nightmare Radios where and marked them on a map and wrote how many of Gatō's goons where guarding them, and Kakashi kept an eye on the bridge Tazuna was building.

One thing the three couldn't help but notice was how the all villagers where acting. Some were very grouchy, some were acting like they could fall asleep at any moment, and some were jumping at every little thing. Considering that there are Nightmare Radios in the village, it made sense, but still... Who would willingly make people suffer like this?

Another thing was how the village looked. All the stores the Genins saw barley had any merchandise and most of the villagers were stealing from one another. Sakura decked a so-called pickpocket who missed her bag and touched her butt. 'She's certainly has a strong punch,' Naruto and Sasuke thought at the same time.

Guess they REALLY NEEDED the bridge.

}i{ }i{

When the Genins and the child entered Tsunami's house, Sakura asked Inarī "Has the village been like that since Gatō came?" Inarī, nodded and said "That monster also killed people who stood up against him as an "example"... He killed the person... Who was like a father to me..." Inarī looked at the ground. Sasuke placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. The Uchiha knew how he felt and said "Don't worry, we WILL make sure that Gatō pays for the pain that he put you and the village through."

"Aww, didn't know you had a soft spot of kids Sasuke-kun," said a very familiar voice to the Genins. All three turned to the voice, it was Inuzaka Kiba! Just over the dog-nin's shoulder was the rest of Team 8. "Sorry for the intrusion," Kurenai said to Inarī, then added "Hokage-sama got your letter Sasuke-kun and sent my team because we just happened to have finished a mission roughly two villages away from here." Akamaru sniffed Inarī, who was happy there was a big dog in front of him.

}i{ }i{

An hour after Team 8 arrived, and explaining why they were here to Tsunami and Tazuna, all of the Genins (minus Sasuke and Hinata, whom were currently guarding Kakashi) split into teams to destroy the Nightmare Radios. Kakashi asked Inarī and Tsunami to descretly bring the people who were suffering the most from the Nightmare Radios into an abandoned storage unit for him to help. That place out of the accursed devices' range, so Kakashi could work in peace. Kurenai was guarding Tazuna as he continued to work on the bridge.

}i{ }i{ About 30 Minutes After Team 7 & 8 Left the House, Unknown Hideout Location }i{ }i{

Haku was not in a good mood right now. Why? Gatō tried to touch Zabuza, whom was laying in a bed because of the side-effect of the Momentary Death. Haku merely bruised the bones in his right arm and scared the two guards that was with Gatō bad enough that they nearly wetted themselves. The evil tycoon warned Zabuza that if he failed again, he'd be sorry.

"GATŌ-SAMA!" shouted another one of Gatō's goons shouted as he raced into the hideout. The goon quickly whispered something into the tyrant's ear. "WHAT?! All of them?!" Gatō asked his underling, whom nodded. The tyrant growled and stormed out with his minions. Leaving the two ninjas alone.

"That was unnecessary Haku," Zabuza stated plainly, he had a kuni knife under the blanket with him, for such occasion. "I know," Haku said then added "But, I couldn't let him touch you. I'm the only one who can." Zabuza pulled a hand out from under the blanket and said "If it's not a fight, then yes, you're the only one who can." and placed that hand on Haku's cheek. The teen smiled and put a hand on top of Zabuza's. "We need that guy alive for now," the Missing-nin said stroking the younger's cheek and added "Just put up with him for now until we're done. We don't want to attract THEIR attention." Haku nodded.

"Zabuza-sama, what's a Nightmare Radio?" Haku asked suddenly. Zabuza pulled his hand away and asked "Why do you want to know? And where did you hear that?" Haku explained that he heard the goon that ran in told Gatō that all the Nightmare Radios in the village were destroyed. "Why would Gatō need to use those? Nightmare Radios simply give people nasty, continuous dreams," Zabuza said pulling his hand back under the blanket. "The villagers are already scared him... Why beat the dead horse, so to speak?" Haku asked the older ninja, whom simply said he wasn't too sure.

}i{ }i{ About an Hour Later, With Sakura and Shino }i{ }i{

"Ano... Shino... Can I ask you something?" Sakura asked as the two walked down a semi-busy street. "You just did," Shino said in a monotone voice. Sakura glared at him and said "Don't be a smart-ass." Shino sighed and said "Fine. What's the question?" Sakura took a deep breath and said "How did you feel when you finished your Soulmate Dreams and realized that Kiba was your Soulmate?" Shino was quiet for a long 30 seconds before saying "Why? Did you complete your Soulmate Dreams and is Ino your Soulmate?" Sakura immediately shouted no and that's not why she was asking. "Then I can assume that you found out that Sasuke completed his Soulmate Dreams and realized that you're not his Soulmate." Sakura was stunned she said "How'd you know?" Shino simply said "I have a very acute sense of observation, so it not too hard for me to figure out what people are thinking." Sakura muttered "No wonder you hardly say anything." then she realized something and asked "Is that how you knew that Sasuke-kun completed his Soulmate Dreams?" Shino nodded and explained "Over the years I learnt that people act a certain ways after they complete their Soulmate Dreams and they also act certain ways around their Soulmates immediately afterwards, Sasuke was no exception. No matter how good of an actor he may be. I surmised that his Soulmate was no one in our class, or the school in this case, because of those behaviors, or a lack thereof." Sakura had to know "So why didn't you say anything?" Shino quickly and calmly answered "It's none of my business and I respect Sasuke enough to not be all nosy about it. He'll say something when he wishes." 'That's a little too simple... But he is right,' Sakura thought quietly.

"You remember what Hatake-san said about Soulmates?" Shino suddenly asked. Sakura nodded "Yeah, that a Soulmate is some one who you need and who need you..." Shino nodded and said "Kiba and I need each other, that is why we are Soulmates." "But... Why do you NEED each other? I mean... You two hardly seem compatible..." was all Sakura could ask. She had to know who could need Sasuke and who could he need? Shino smiled, actually smiled. Sakura NEVER saw the bug-nin smile before. "That is for the Soulmates to find out for themselves," Shino said happily as he walked ahead of the now confused kunoichi. "But I can tell you this Sakura," Shino said turning towards the pink-haired teen, whom looked at him with curious green eyes, and with that smile still on his face added "Despite our obvious difference, neither of us would change a thing about ourselves. It's one of the reasons why we love each other so much."

Now Sakura's eyes were now filled with amazement.

}i{ }i{ With Sasuke, Hinata, Kakashi at the Same Time }i{ }i{

Kakashi opened his visible eye and removed a hand from the person's head in front of him. That person felt soooooo much better and happily thanked the Jōnin. "Kakashi-sensei, don't push yourself too much," Hinata said in a worried tone. "I know... But now that the Nightmare Radios are gone, the villagers should be having regular dreams when they fall asleep next time," Kakashi said stretching, he was a bit stiff from sitting for a few hours, and said "So my job's almost done here." Inarī happily said that Kakashi was sooooooo cool. "You should really thank the Genins, I couldn't have done this without them," Kakashi said with a smiling eye. "Why?" Inarī asked. Sasuke explained that Dream Empaths can't get near or do their job around Nightmare Radios, so the other Genins had to destroy the devices for Kakashi. Now Inarī was amazed. Tsunami had to take her son shopping, so the two left, with the boy happily thanking the ninjas.

Kakashi suddenly placed a hand on the top of Hinata's head and said "Hiashi-kun told me that putting you and Neji on different teams because it was for your own good." Hinata and Sasuke's eyes went wide and both asked how'd he knew. "Well, I was there when we were organizing the teams," Kakashi said still with that smiling eye, then added sullenly "I know what happened to you three in the past, but you have to put it behind you and learn to trust those outside your families."

Both Sasuke and Hinata glanced at the floor. Kakashi patted the Hyūga on the head and said "Trust is important, for you, Sasuke, and Neji. You'll learn in time that it was the right decision." "That's... Easier said then done, sensei..." Hinata said with her eyes still towards the ground. "I know, I've been there," Kakashi said motioning the two to follow him.

'What did he mean by that?' both Hinata and Sasuke thought at the same time as they followed the Dream Empath.

}i{ }i{ With Naruto and Kiba at the Same Time in a Forestry Area (Akamaru's guarding Tsunami's home btw) }i{ }i{

"Oi, Naruto, did you and Sasuke get into some kind of argument or something?" Kiba suddenly asked the blond. Naruto froze. Kiba took that as a yes and asked what he did. Naruto got defensive by saying "What make you think I started it?" Kiba sighed and said "You really think Sasuke would START an argument? Beside, you're normally the first one to say something without thinking about it." Naruto's eyes went to the ground and said softly "You got that right..." then he said louder for Kiba to hear "I... Said... Something really stupid." The dog-nin stated that that wasn't much of a surprise, but Naruto stated "Not that kind of stupid..." Kiba then asked "What kind of stupid we talking?" "The kind that might get someone killed..." was all Naruto answered. Kiba's eyes went wide and he said in a really surprised tone "What? Really? What the hell did you say?" Naruto didn't answer for once. Kiba placed a hand on the blond's shoulders and said "I guess this means that you're going to start thinking before you say anything. I hope Sasuke will eventually forgives you for whatever you said." "Same here..." was all Naruto said.

"If you really didn't mean whatever you said to him, he'll forgive you," said a voice that neither of the ninjas recognized. The two Genins turned to see a young girl, around a year younger then Naruto with long black hair, big black eyes, a yellowish pink kimono, and a small basket full of herbs. "Considering what I said... I don't think he'll forgive me anytime soon..." Naruto said staring at the girl before him, thinking she was really cute. Kiba narrowed his eyes at the girl. She tilted her head to the side a bit and said "It was really that bad, huh." Naruto nodded. The girl smiled and said "I'm sure your Soulmate will eventually forgive you." Naruto turned red, immediately shook his head vigorously, held up his hands, and shouted "NO, NO, NO, SASUKE'S SOOOOOOO NOT MY SOULMATE! HE'S JUST MY TEAMMATE!" Kiba stated that those two aren't even friends. The girl quickly apologized and said "I didn't know, goodness, I probably made things a bit awkward for you." "Why'd you even assume that Naruto was arguing with his Soulmate? He's 14," Kiba asked suspiciously. Now the girl's cheeks were pink when she said "Oh, I'm sorry... You looked 15, and I assumed... Oh my, I am sooooo sorry."

Naruto said that it was fine and that he was really looking forward to having his Soulmate Dreams, then commented "Kiba here already had his and is with his Soulmate." "You didn't need to say that," Kiba said sourly, but Naruto commented that they were on the topic of Soulmates. "Are you happy with your Soulmate?" the girl suddenly asked Kiba. The dog-nin stated plainly "Of coarse I am, I love my Soulmate." The girl smiled and said "I know how you feel. My Soulmate and I are really happy together. I would do anything for my Soulmate." Kiba nodded and said "So would I. I guess you can say that my Soulmate is my strength." She said with that soft smile "I agree, when a person has someone they love, that is when they are at their strongest." Both ninjas were moved by this.

When the girl realized what time it was, she left the two ninjas, waving good-bye. "She was really pretty," Naruto said dreamily and added "I hope my Soulmate's a cute as her." Kiba sighed and said "Yeah, he is pretty, but I still prefer my cute'n cuddly Shino."

Hold on...

Naruto suddenly shouted "WAIT! HE'S A BOY?!" Kiba simply said yup and added that his nose never lies, he could smell the boy's sent clearly. Naruto wasn't sure what to say at the moment. 'The world is certainly weird,' Naruto thought as they headed back to base.

}i{ }i{ The Next Day }i{ }i{

Gatō was lounging on a expensive couch and talking to Zabuza over a walky-talky like device telling him to ambush all of the bridge-builders tommorow. "Yeah, yeah. I heard ya the first time. There's no reason to repeat every order," Zabuza said sourly over the device. Gatō growled and shouted at the Missing-nin to just follow the orders or he won't pay him, and tossed the device across the room.

"Gatō-sama..." one of Gatō's minions said nervously. Gatō glared at the goon and stated "What?" "Ano... Th-there's a-a... Ano... W-we h-have re-re-reports th-that a-a D-Dream Empath in th-the v-village," the goon stated nervously. "A Dream Empath, here!" Gatō's mood went a complete 180, when the goon nodded. Now Gatō was grinning like the devil himself.

}i{ }i{ At Zabuza and Haku's Hideout }i{ }i{

As soon as Zabuza turned off the communication device, he gasped in pleasure.

Haku smiled softly. Both were in bed, naked, when that tycoon tyrant called them. Haku was fingering the older ninja when it happened. 'Annoying pest,' the teen thought when Zabuza talked to Gatō. They were just getting to the good part.

So as soon as Zabuza was was done talking to that tyrant, Haku went back to were they left off.

"You're unusually eager today," Zabuza gasped out. Haku smiled and said, as if he wasn't currently thrusting his fingers in and out of the older ninja, "Well, we are celebrating your recovery from the Momentary Death ^^" Zabuza chuckled as Haku pressed his lips to his neck and said "Then let's not "celebrate" too much. I have to fight against Kakashi, remember?" Haku replied that he remembered as he pulled his fingers out of the older ninja.

Suddenly, Zabuza pushed Haku to the bed and sat on his waist, the lubricant inside the older ninja slowly leaked out onto the younger ninja's skin. "How's about we try a new position for this celebration," Zabuza suggested seductively. Haku smiled again and ask innocently "A new position, huh? Is it a good one?" Zabuza smirked a bit as he reached behind him to softly grip Haku's harden penis, the older ninja lifted himself of the younger ninja and positioned himself over the organ. Zabuza lowered himself onto Haku's member, using his own hand to steady the other's penis as he did so. The younger ninja couldn't help but be amazed at this, being able to see his member being engulfed by the older ninja's anus like this.

When Zabuza took in Haku's penis completely, he sat there for a bit, trying to adjust to having the member that deep inside him. "En... Enjoying the view?" Zabuza panted out with a smirk, seeing how Haku was looking at him. Haku rand a hand up Zabuza's leg and said "A lot. This is certainly a good way to celebrate." The Missing-nin lifted himself up and then lowered himself, setting a slow rhythm. "Don't push yourself too much ^^, you said you're fighting that ninja with the Sharingan, remember ^^," Haku said with a smile. Zabuza grunted and said "Why'd you think I'm going slow."

So, the two continued their "Celebrating".

}i{ }i{ At Tsunami's House That Night }i{ }i{ .

"Okay, who's taking the first watch?" Kurenai asked as she walked in the room. Naruto immediately volunteered. "Just make sure you keep the noise down," Sasuke stated to the blond as he leaned against the wall with Hinata. Naruto quickly stated "The only noise I'm going to make is the sound of victory." Hinata said whatever and left the room with Sasuke.

"Eash, what's her problem? I know Naruto can be annoying, but still," Sakura said as soon as the two left. The blond commented that he was still in the room. "Hinata's probably still suffering from separation anxiety," Shino said softly. "Huh? Why would she have separation anxiety?" Naruto asked the bug-nin. "Think about it. Have either of you ever seen Hinata and Neji apart from one another?" Shino said as he snugged in Kiba's arms. "Come to think of it... I don't think I EVER seen the two that far from each other. I been thinking that Neji's probably right around the corner ever since you guys got here," Sakura said, now realizing what the bug-ninja said. Naruto couldn't help but think 'No wonder she's been staying near Sasuke the entire time she's been here... She's not use to Neji not being around, and Sasuke's her friend... But... Why doesn't she or her cousin trust anyone?' Naruto folded his arms as the other ninjas went to sleep.

Naruto then muttered to himself "Maybe I should try again... With trying to be their friend... I think I can get them to open up... I mean... The Hyūgas are good people." 'I know I can be their friend if they let me...' Naruto thought as he glanced out the window, looking up at the crescent moon. 'It feels like... They really need some friends they can trust,' the blond's blue eyes softened. "Yeah... I'll start when we get back to Konohagakure. Now's not a good time," Naruto muttered as he moved to the roof of the house.

}i{ }i{

1) Nightmare Radios are man-made devices that causes people to have continuous nightmares. These are illegal to use, for obvious reasons, but that doesn't really stop people from using them. Dream Empaths CANNOT get within striking distance of a Nightmare Radio because they can sense the signals and it gives them painful migraines as long as they are within that close proximity. There have been some cases where the Dream Empath goes mad because of the Nightmare Radios, but Team 7 doesn't have to worry about their sensei going mad, he's too strong willed.

}i{ }i{

ZY: If you gotten this far, then thank you for reading. Next chapter will be the Battle on the Bridge. Comments would be nice and it's a great way to ask me questions.


	5. Chapter 5: The Bridge of Courage

ZY: Hurrah hurrah. Chapter 5 is finished. I am going to apologize now for not working on Heart of Chocolate and Touch of Blue and Red. I'm going to try to work on them as much as I can when I'm writing my other stories. I admit, my brain loves working in chaos.

}i{ }i{

Dreams of Passion turned into Reality, Chapter 5; On The Bridge of Courage

}i{ }i{

Naruto yawned and looked at his watch. Time to change shifts. 'Who am I suppose to wake up?' Naruto thought as he entered the house. Then he finally remembered 'Oh, right... Hyūga...' That's just great...

Naruto rubbed his eyes as he walked into the living room as he tried to remember where she was sleeping. That was when he spotted Shino's overcoat on the ground. Only it wasn't on the ground, it was covering the upper part of a blanket. Now curious, Naruto softly walked over to the overcoat. When Naruto was right next to the blanket and overcoat, he smiled. Both Kiba and Shino were snuggled in each other's arms under the two objects. Shino's face was buried in Kiba's chest while Kiba's face was buried in Shino's fluffy hair, both were sleeping peacefully. The bug-nin nuzzled the dog-nin's chest and snuggled closer. 'Heh, no wonder Kiba calls Shino a Cuddle Bug ^~^. Pair of Lovebirds,' Naruto thought as he quietly tiptoed away to wake Hinata for her shift. 'I hope I get my Soulmate Dreams when I turn 15,' the blond thought happily. He couldn't wait to see his Soulmate.

}i{ }i{

Naruto finally found the room that Hinata was in, it was the last one of coarse. Sasuke was a futon right across from her, laying on his back. The blond wasn't sure if he should be surprised or not that the two were in the same room. He yawned again, he'll think about it later after he gets some sleep.

Naruto walked up to Hinata, kneeled down, reached an arm out, and said softly "Oi, Hina-" Next thing the blond knew, he was on the ground, a knee on his gut, a kuni knife only a few centimeters from from his eye, and the Hyūga glaring at him. "What are you doing here?" Hinata asked the blond quietly with as much venom as a cobra. "I-i-i-it's y-y-y-your t-t-turn t-t-to t-t-take wa-wa-watch!" Naruto quietly stuttered out. Hinata looked around, realizing where she was, and said "Right... Sorry." as she got off Naruto and walked to the door. "Haruno-san is after me, right?" Hinata asked in a cold quiet voice. Naruto replied "Yes..." before she walked out.

Naruto released the breath he didn't know he was holding in relief. 'I reeeeeeeeeeeealy feel sorry for whoever her Soulmate is...' Naruto thought as he moved to a sitting position.

The blond heard a soft chuckle coming from Sasuke's side of the room. Naruto immediately turned his head towards the Uchiha only to find him sleeping soundly on his back. 'I could have sworn I heard...' Naruto thought as he watched Sasuke roll to his side to face him. The Uchiha's eyes were closed and his face was in a peaceful slumber, there was no way the chuckling came from him. Naruto concluded that he was hearing things because he was tired, so he left the room to find his sleeping spot.

As soon as the blond left, a swirl of chakra filled the room and took an outline of a human. "Did he... Actually hear me?" the chakra whispered.

}i{ }i{ In Konohagakure At the Same Time }i{ }i{

Team 6 (Team Gai) had a just finished a late mission, it was the only reason they were up at this hour.

"All right my Youthful team. We have the next two days off to relax and replenish our Youthful energy," Gai said with a tired smile. Lee gave his sensei a tired thumbs-up, while Tenten yawned, and Neji just turned away from the Green Beast. Once the team hit the main street, they split up, heading towards their respective homes. Well... Almost everyone.

"Why are you following me?" Neji asked Lee, whom was walking right next to him. "Oh, I... Figured I'd walk you home," Lee said with his hands behind his head and his elbows pointing to the night sky, he was hoping that the Hyūga wouldn't mind the company. Neji glared at the green clad teen and said, keeping a careful eye on him "Don't you live in the opposite direction from my home?" the Hyūga didn't want to spent more time then he needed to with Team 6. "I live a couple of block away from you now. I told you and the team that I moved three days ago?" Lee said as he let his arms drop to his side. Neji turned his head away from Lee, trying to hide a soft tint of pink on his cheeks as he thought 'Right, he did mentioned that he moved... But I didn't know it was that close to the Hyūga estate...'

"Ano, Neji..." Lee asked cautiously, good thing to because Neji answered back "What?" in an annoyed voice. 'Well... Now or never,' Lee thought before he asked "Would you like to practice our tag-team maneuvers when we have more energy to do so?" Neji answered back with a firm "No." "Then how about-" Lee started to ask, but was intuited by Neji saying "No" again in the same firm tone.

Lee: "What about-"

Neji: "No."

Lee: "But I haven't-"

Neji: "Still no."

Lee: "But..."

Neji: "No."

Lee: "Can you at least-"

Neji: "No."

Lee: "Neji!"

Neji: "What?"

With big black eyes shining in the darkness, Lee said "Neji, we ARE Teammates now. How are we suppose to be a team if we don't put in a bit of effort to get to know each other?" Neji just glared at him and said "Not my concern." Lee reached out and grabbed Neji's left wrist. The Hyūga wasn't thrilled about that. "Let go!" Neji said sternly as he tried to pull his arm away, but Lee kept his firm grip on the other. "Lee, if you don't remove your hand from me-" Neji stated trying to pull his arm out of Lee's vis-grip, but the green clad teen stated firmly "It IS your concern." Neji stopped struggling and said "Huh?" That was when the Hyūga saw a look in Lee's eyes that he's never seen before in the teen. "We ARE teammates whether you like it or not, and if I recall correctly, you were put on THIS team for a reason. I may not know what this reason is or why you are so untrusting towards others, but I can tell you this," Lee said tightening his grip on the other before continuing "I know you will not care for my words, so I will use my actions to earn your trust. And I can and will show you that you can trust me completely." Neji was stunned as Lee finally released his grip. The Hyūga immediatly rubbed that spot with his right.

"Don't just throw the word 'trust' around like that..." Neji stated, eyeing the ground. Lee sighed and said "I know, but I wanted to make sure you got the point. You're my teammate and friend." Neji glared at Lee and spat "Teammates, yes. Friends, no! Not even if hell froze over!"

"Are you truly sure about that?" was all Lee could ask. Neji huffed a yes and walked ahead of the green clad teen. This really broke Lee's heart.

When they reached the Hyūga estate, Lee just kept walking. Not stopping to say good-bye to his teammate, his Soulmate. What could have happened to Neji and Hinata to make them soooooo wiry of trusting people outside their family and the Uchihas? A tear rolled down Lee's cheek. Thank Kami no one saw it. That was when Lee made a resolve; no matter how long it took, Lee WILL prove to Neji that he could trust him absolutely, not only as a teammate and friend, but also as his Soulmate.

"Aren't you going to at least say bye to your teammate, Neji-kun?" one of the Hyūga night guards asked the younger Hyūga. Neji just watch Lee walk away into the darkness of the night before he walked into the compound. The guard's lotus purple eyes simply watched the younger enter the home. 'If only THAT didn't happen. I'm sure they would be great friends...' the guard thought sadly as he went back to his job.

}i{ }i{ With Team 7 & 8 at Dawn }i{ }i{

Everyone but Naruto was up and ready for the day. Kurenai, Kiba, and Akamaru were going to guard the house while the rest of the team will guard Tazuna and his crew as they finish the bridge.

}i{ }i{

When the group got to the bridge, Tazuna's men were on the ground unconscious. The bridge builders managed to tell them that they were attacked by some sort of demon.

The next thing the ninjas knew, they were surrounded by a thick mist.

The Genins quickly surrounded Tazuna. They knew what was coming, Zabuza.

Twenty water clones of Zabuza appeared out of the puddles on the bridge and surrounded the ninjas.

"Hinata, Sasuke, would you kindly take care of these," Kakashi said with a smiling eye. The Uchiha and Hyūga smirked. The two went into action and in less then ten seconds, all of the clones were just droplets of water.

The real Zabuza appeared out of the fog with the fake hunter and said "Oh? Looks like you called for back-up, Kakashi. Oh well, more playmates for you Haku." the fake hunter chuckled and agreed. Looks like Kakashi's hypothesis was on the mark. "Even though the Water Clones only have 1/10th the strength as the original, the two of you took them down quiet easily~," Haku said happily. The Missing-nin chuckled and told the fake hunter to go ahead. Haku dissapeared.

Sasuke managed to block the fake hunter's nearly sightless attack.

}i{ }i{ Tsunami's House (by this time, Naruto was up) }i{ }i{

Two of Gatō's goons (whom were there to kidnap Tsunami and Inarī) were tied up, out cold, and no longer had any weapons on them.

"Sneaking up on US like that, please, those dweebs are a hundred years too early for that," Kiba stated. Akamaru barked in agreement. Kurenai cast her gaze at her student and Naruto and said "If these two are here, then there's a good chance that there's trouble at the bridge." Naruto bit his lip before saying "Oi, Kurenai-sensei... I'm going to the bridge, the rest of the team probably needs me." The red-eyed woman smiled and said "Go ahead. We have something to do here." Kiba grined and said that the blond better make sure that his Soulmate doesn't have a scratch on him when the dog-nin gets there then added "It's going to be the Kikaichū your going to worry about, not me." Naruto frowned, shivered a bit, thought 'Oh right, those bugs...' and raced off towards the bridge.

"Oi, Inarī, you think you can help us with an important mission?" Kiba asked the boy, whom happily nodded.

}i{ }i{ At The Bridge }i{ }i{

Blow for blow, Sasuke was able to keep up with Haku. Zabuza was rather impressed. Not a lot of ninjas could match Haku in speed. The Missing-nin had his target in sight. Kakashi noticed this and said calmly, despite the events happening, "Sakura, Shino, protect Tazuna. Hinata." the Hyūga nodded, she knew what she needed to do.

The Uchiha gained an edge in the fight with the fake hunter and managed to punch him in the mask, causing him to tumble backwards a bit. "Oh my~ Your stronger then I expected~" Haku said happily, but the temperature of the area got really cold all of the sudden. The masked boy started a series of hand symbols and by the time he finished, Sasuke was surrounded by ice mirrors. Haku walked right up to one of the ice mirrors and walked right into it! Now he was in all of the ice mirrors! What was this jutsu?

}i{ }i{

"Shall we finish our fight, Kakashi?" Zabuza said taking ahold of his oversized sword. The Jōnin pulled a kuni out of his pouch and said "I don't have a choice, do I..."

}i{ }i{

"Shall I show you my true speed~?" Haku asked almost playfully. With narrowed eyes glancing from mirror to mirror trying to located the real masked boy, Sasuke thought 'What does he mean by that?' The next thing the Uchiha knew wooden needles were flying from every direction, shredding his cloths and skin.

"SASUKE-KUN!" Sakura shrieked.

Sasuke dropped to his knees, blood was dripping from all of the scratches. 'What the hell?!' Sasuke thought as he tried to get to his feet, but the pain caused him to fall back to the ground. 'Crap!' the Uchiha thought as he forced himself to his knees, he coughed up some blood as he did so. "Shall I finish you off now~?" Sasuke heard the masked boy said suddenly.

Another wave of needles hit the air.

Sasuke braced himself for the pain, but none came.

"I admit, you're pretty fast,"

Sasuke looked up. "Hi-Hinata!" The Uchiha coughed out. The Hyūga smirked, dropped all the needles that the masked boy threw, relieving that her Byakugan was activated, and said "But, I can still see your movement." Haku was impressed "Oh~ Pretty eyes~, they're just like pearls~"

Sasuke got to his feet and was back-to-back with the Hyūga. "Thanks, Hinata. I owe you one," Sasuke said through the pain. "No worries Sasuke. Besides the only one allowed to "kill" you is Hanabi," Hinata said with a smile. Sasuke smiled and said "Do you really need to bring that up now?" Hinata apologized with a smile and added "Lets finish this." Sasuke nodded as the two got into a fighting stance.

}i{ }i{

Zabuza summoned a thick fog to counter Kakashi's Sharingan. So far it was working, the battle was in the Missing-nin's favor. 'Damn... I really don't want to use this... But...' Kakashi thought before he realized that Zabuza was going to go after the bridge builder.

As soon as the Missing-nin raised his sword to strike Tazuna, Kakashi tackled him to the ground, making damn sure to place his hand on his face. The two tumbled to the ground and Zabuza's sword hit the ground with a clank. That sound got Haku's attention.

The thick fog suddenly vanished. Allowing everyone to see again. Both of the older ninjas were on the ground, unconscious, and Kakashi's hand wasn't too far from Zabuza's head. 'No way! Kakashi-sensei!' Sakura thought when she saw. "What was he thinking!?" Hinata whispered to Sasuke, whom just shrugged in confusion.

"That Bastard! He's a Dream Empath!" Haku hissed out, aiming a wooden needle at Kakashi! "Haku! Don't!" Shino called out. Sakura nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard it.

Shino could shout? Who knew?

"If you kill Kakashi-sensei while he's in Zabuza's Dream Plain then Zabuza will never wake-up!" Shino explained in that shouting voice. "You're lying," Haku growled out. Shino shook his head and shouted "I'm not! There are actual reports of Dream Empaths being accidentally killed while they're in someone's Dream Plain and those people never awoke. You love Zabuza, don't you? Please, just leave them be and just wait until they wake-up." Haku was silent for a very looooooong minute before finally saying "You are damn lucky you're right about my feeling. Fine, I'll leave them be." The masked boy made a mental note to kill that boy in the overcoat after Zabuza awakes. 'How the hell did he know about that?' Haku thought, making sure to keep an eye on that teen.

'Just how keen is his sense of observation? That fake hunter made absolutely no indication that he loved Zabuza,' Sakura thought as she was still in shock.

"Hinata... How did he?" Sasuke whispered to his friend. "I guess Kiba was right about his observational skills," Hinata whispered back in amazement. Haku heard that. 'So there are others like me,' The masked boy thought as he readied himself to launch another attack on the two inside his jutsu.

}i{ }i{ Zabuza's Dream Plain }i{ }i{

"Misty place, no surprise,"Kakashi muttered to himself as he looked around the Dream Plain. It was indeed misty, not foggy. Every tree that Kakashi could see was covered with a thin coat of the water vapor, very common for people from the Land of Mist. "This is a surprisingly nice place," Kakashi muttered before stepping in something squishy. The Jōnin looked down and muttered "I'd take that back." He just stepped on a decaying corps, and there was more scattered around the area. 'Gross...' Kakashi thought as he covered his nose as the smell from the corpses assaulted the air.

"KAKASHI! YOU BASTARD!" Zabuza appeared in front of the Jōnin, without his sword and looking extremely pissed off. "YOUR A FUCKING DREAM EMPATH!" The Missing-nin shouted angrily. "I am and there's no need to shout," Kakashi said getting into a fighting stance.

Glaring daggers at the Jōnin, Zabuza growled out "I'm going to make sure you're going to fucking suffer!" as he started making hand signs. Kakashi paled and shouted out "ZABUZA! STOP! NINJUTSU AND GENJUTSU DON'T WORK RIGHT HERE!" but it was too late! Zabuza summoned a huuuuuuge water dragon to attack the Dream Empath, but thing went astray.

The gigantic tsunami dragon hit both of them! Sending the two in opposite directions.

}i{ }i{ The Bridge }i{ }i{

Zabuza and Kakashi's bodies remained on the ground, completely unaware of what was happening around them.

Haku was launching attack after attack at the Hyūga and Uchiha. Hinata was keeping pace with the attack, deflecting all of the needles aimed at her with a kuni. Sasuke was moving faster, he was starting to see the needles more clearly.

"Their... Completely in sync...Amazing..." Sakura said in aw. Shino didn't say anything, but he could see EVERYTHING that was going on in the ice mirrors.

"NARUTO UZUMAKI IS HERE TO SAVE THE DAY!"

"Idiotic, loudmouth baka," Sasuke muttered under his breath.

Yes, Naruto appeared out of a cloud of smoke, shouting his introduction. The blond immediately noticed that Kakashi and Zabuza were on the ground and shouted what happened. Sakura was the one to explain the whole thing to him.

"You know, maybe that baka can actually be useful," Hinata whispered to Sasuke, who muttered back "How so" rather sarcastically. The Hyūga explained softly that if they and the blond attacked the mirrors at the same time from opposite sides then there's a good chance that they could win. Sasuke actually liked that idea. "Oi, I'm here to save you two," Naruto said standing next to the two. The Hyūga and Uchiha had a look on their faces that practically shouted "What-The-Hell?!". Sasuke finally growled out "You utter fool! Did you even think about the situation we were in before you just walked in here?" Now Naruto realized that as he thought 'Crap! He right!' Hinata pinched the bridge of her nose and thought 'He's suppose to be the Hokage's son... Nitwit.'

Haku launched another barrage of needles at the Genins.

Sasuke was able to deflect most of the needles with a kuni knife, Hinata was also deflecting the needles, but Naruto wasn't doing so well. 'Baka!' Hinata thought as she deflected a needle heading right at the blond's eye. "Pay attention, dweeb!" Hinata stated as she deflected more needles. Naruto was about to say something, but was interrupted by a wooden needle whizzing by his ear.

}i{ }i{ Zabuza's Dream Plain }i{ }i{

"I really should have seen that coming," Kakashi muttered rubbing his head as he looked around, trying to find his barring. After realizing where he was, he thought ' *sarcastically* Joy, I'm Zabuza's memory section. I better get out of here quick.' But he needed to find a way out of here first. He started walking relatively quickly.

"You're really pushing your luck, you know," Kakashi heard Zabuza's voice. Did the Missing-nin find him already? "But, Zabuza-sama, you promised," That sounded like the boy in the mask. Kakashi gave a sigh in relief 'It's just a memory.' and started walking, passing by some thick trees.

"I know I promised you Haku, but..." Kakashi heard Memory Zabuza say. "I'm going to have to draw a line somewhere..." Kakashi stopped in his tracks, his face (or the parts you could see anyway) paled, he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

The Demon of the Mist was completely naked, arms above his head bound by ice against the tree bark, legs were spread apart and was also bound to trees by ice, leaving his completely exposed to the younger ninja before him (the boy in the mask to Kakashi, but he wasn't wearing his mask here). 'What! The!' was all Kakashi was thinking at the moment. 'Is this... Really a memory?' Asked himself as he blinked, making sure he wasn't seeing things.

Memory Haku whined as he said "I mastered the new technique *spreads Zabuza's ass cheeks apart to reveal more of his anus, making the older ninja turn a nice shade of red*, so *now talking happily* you're suppose to let me do sexy things to you~" Yup, this was a memory, since the two made no indications that they saw the Jōnin, whom was obviously in their view.

'Not how I wanted to learn about their relationship...' Kakashi thought as he started to walk by the two. He REALLY didn't want to see them go at it, but he needed to get by to get out of this section.

"HAKU! Don't just stick your fingers in! You need to lubricate them first!" Memory Zabuza stated nervously. "You're not just saying that just to stop me are you?" Memory Haku asked. Memory Zabuza shook his head and said "If you just stick dry fingers in, it's going to hurt and it'll be hard for you to move them. So... Just find something to use for lubrication." Memory Haku was quiet for a bit before he gave the older a mischievous smile and said "I think I know what we can use~" as he started to message Memory Zabuza's balls, causing the older to gasp.

'I think it'll be a good idea if I jog away,' Kakashi thought as he quickened his pace. He REALLY DIDN'T NEED TO SEE what happens next. He better get out of this section before he saw anymore unwanted images. But Kakashi couldn't help but wonder something. Okay, sure Haku was a strong ninja, but those ice binds didn't seem like they were THAT strong, Zabuza could have easily broken out of those to either cover himself or attack Haku for putting him in such a position. And the fact that he PROMISED the younger ninja that he could do such things to him... Damn it, Kakashi's Dream Empath instincts were kicking in.

}i{ }i{ The Bridge }i{ }i{

'I see now,' Haku thought as he launched another wave of needles, he now knew what he needed to do.

A needle pierced Hinata's left ankle. "HINATA!" Both Sasuke and Naruto shouted as she flinched in pain. Another needle pierced her left ankle again. 'Crap!' Sasuke thought as he deflected another needle aimed at the Hyūga's ankle. 'That bastard found out that she can't see attack that low!' the Uchiha thought as Naruto caught onto the scam and went to defend his comrade.

'I have to protect her!' Sasuke thought as the needles started to slow down, at least to him. 'She's my friend!' the needles moved slower still. 'I WILL NEVER leave my Friends!' Sasuke's eyes suddenly turned red with two black wheels. Now Sasuke could see the true power of this ice mirror jutsu! He could see that Haku was moving between the mirrors!

Sasuke struck the fake hunter in the mask!

"!?" That was when Haku noticed the Uchiha's eyes, Sharingans!

"Whoa, Sasuke, your eyes..." Naruto said when he saw the Uchiha's eyes. "You... Got them," Hinata said with a smile. Sasuke could feel that he achieved what so few Uchihas could do. He awakened his Sharingans!

}i{ }i{ Zabuza's Dream Plain }i{ }i{

"Damn it..." Zabuza growled out. What did Kakashi do to make his jutsu go haywire? That was when the Missing-nin realized that the Jōnin tried to warn him about using the jutsu. 'If it wasn't him, then what the hell happened?' Zabuza thought as he tracked through the pathway.

After who knows how long, Zabuza finally found Kakashi. The Copy-nin was watching something happening through an open door. "You being noisy or finding my weakness?" Zabuza asked with a smirk. Kakashi said nothing, he just stood there. Zabuza was about to say something but he heard moans of pleasure coming from the doorway. The Missing-nin didn't even realized that he moved until he saw what was on the other side of the door. Him and Haku, in their birthday suits, having sex with each other.

"Well aren't you the pervert," Zabuza said with a smirk. Kakashi said nothing. "So I let the kid fuck me from time to time, no big deal," The Missing-nin said turing towards Kakashi, whom had his right eye closed. "It IS a big deal..." Kakashi finally said. Zabuza sneered as he said "Why?Is it the fact that he's still a kid?" Kakashi told the Missing-nin to take another look at the scene before him, so he did and that was when he realized what the Copy-nin meant. Haku was a good five years older in the scene. Zabuza went pale. This was one of his seven Soulmate Dreams.

Kakashi finally said seriously "You let him have his way with you, kept him close to you, and personally trained him because he IS your Soulmate." Zabuza said nothing, he was too stunned to speak. Kakashi opened his visible eye and said "You never told him, did you?" The Missing-nin said no words, which was enough of a answer.

}i{ }i{ The Bridge }i{ }i{

Now with his new Sharingans, Sasuke was gaining the edge. 'Damn, this jutsu uses a lot of chakra... I need to end this fight,' Haku thought as he calculated a new plan. Naruto was using the opportunity to help Hinata remove the needles from her ankle.

Two groans hit everyone's ears. Now everyone's eyes were on Kakashi and Zabuza, both of whom were slowly getting to their feet. "Zabuza-sama! Are you all right?" Haku asked the older ninja, whom grunted out that he was fine. With his eyes on the Copy-nin, Zabuza growled "That was a cheap shot, Kakashi." Taking another kuni out of he pouch as the Missing-nin picked up his sword, Kakashi stated "Considering what I was thinking about doing before pulling you into the Dream Plain, it wasn't really that cheap of a shot."

The battle between Kakashi and Zabuza resumed when the Missing-nin re-summoned the thick fog.

}i{ }i{

Now Haku's mind was completely focused on ending the young ninja before him and his first target was in his sight. He launched his attack.

The Uchiha saw this. 'No!' Sasuke thought as he moved towards Hinata and Naruto. 'Crap! Please make it in time!' Sasuke told his body as he pushed it to the limits.

}i{ }i{

Naruto couldn't believe his eyes.

Hinata's eyes widened.

Haku was laying on the ground. Sasuke landed a nasty blow to the masked ninja, but...

Sasuke coughed up a glob of blood. Wooden needles were embedded deep within his neck, torso, arms, and legs.

"SASUKE!" Hinata hollared as the Uchiha fell backwards.

Despite the pain in her ankle, Hinata raced to catch him as he fell. When she caught him, she gently layed him on the ground. Sasuke coughed up more blood, his Sharingans were no longer activated. "Sasuke! Stay with me!" Hinata franticaly said as she shook his chest. Sasuke weakly said "Hi...na...ta..." "I'm here! Just stay with me!" Hinata said, her voice was breaking. "I...I...don't...think...I...can...this...time..." Sasuke said weakly, light was fading from his eyes. "You have too! Not just for me or Neji! But Itachi-nii, Kisame-nii, and the babies! They need you!" The Hyūga said was teared forced their way to the surface. "I'm...so...sorry... T...take...c...are...o...f...th...em...f...or...me..." Sasuke said closing his eyes. His head fell to the side. Hinata shook the Uchiha harder, he made no notion of moving. "No... Sasuke..." Tears flowed freely from Hinata's eyes.

}i{ }i{ In Konohagakure, Uchiha Residence }i{ }i{

The sound of glass breaking filled the hallway.

Kisami immediately went to investigate the noise, he had a kuni knife in his hand just incase it was an intruder. He found a framed picture that use to be hanging on the wall on the ground. "Kisame, is everything alright?" Itachi asked as he entered the hallway. "Yeah, one of the pictures just fell. It looks like the string broke," Kisame said picking up the framed picture analyzing the string that held it on the wall. It was indeed broken. "I guess it's time to get a new frame. Is the picture okay?" Itachi said walking up next to his Soulmate.

Kisame turned the frame over to look at the picture. The picture was of the two Uchihas and the Water Ninja that was taken in the Land of Water a few years before the Uchiha Massacre. The glass was broken and the crack ran right over the picture of the smiling six-year-old Sasuke. Kisame looked at the image for a bit before carefully removing the glass.

"Looks fine," Kisame said after looking at the picture. Then the shark-man looked at the broken glass. "It broke along Sasuke's image..." Kisame muttered knowing that his Soulmate heard him. With a worried look on his face, Itachi said "I hope that's not an omen..." Kisame stood up and told his Soulmate not to worry and that Sasuke'll be home before their anaversery. Itachi smiled and hugged Kisame. "I hope so," Itachi muttered. The water ninja held his love close and thought 'You better come home kiddo.'

}i{ }i{ The Bridge }i{ }i{

Naruto couldn't believe his eyes. Hyūga Hinata, the coldhearted heir, was crying, over her dead friend. And that friend, was the blond's rival. This couldn't be real. This had to be some kind of Genjutsu. Sasuke couldn't be dead, he just couldn't.

As Haku got to his knees and said "He landed a blow on me without flinching... And died protecting her. To protect a precious person, knowing it was a trap, he was still willing to jump in. He is a shinobi that deserves respect." The masked boy got to his feet and said "This is your first death of a friend, isn't it." he walked into the nearest ice mirror.

Naruto watched Hinata slump over Sasuke's chest and continued to cry. 'This... Isn't suppose to happen,' Naruto thought. The image he was seeing reflected in his blue eyes. Those blue eyes started to slowly turned red. Crimson chakra suddenly emitted from Naruto.

Hinata quickly raised her head, tears were still streaking down her cheeks. 'Is this chakra Naruto's?' the Hyūga thought as the crimson chakra swirled around her and the blond. 'No, this isn't Naruto's. It's... Far too vile to be his,' Hinata thought as she rubbed her eyes, trying to clear her vision from the tears. Now she saw that the chakra was in the shape of an evil fox's face. The Hyūga's eyes widened as she thought 'That's!'

The wounds on Naruto were healing! The needles that were embedded in him were forced out of his skin by the rapid healing.

}i{ }i{

"W-Who's horrid chakra is that?" Sakura asked in fear. She never felt chakra that made her want to take a shower in boiling acid on the spot. Even a ordinary person like Tazuna could feel the vile chakra. "My... Kikaichū..." Sakura turned to a shaking Shino. It looked like something was crawling under his skin, a lot of something. Sakura and Tazuna were completely grossed out by that. "Their... Scared..." Shino said trying to calm his bugs down. "The chakra?" Sakura asked trying to keep her lunch down as Shino nodded and muttered "Kiba... Please get here soon..." The Kikaichū were not settling down. Sakura REALLY wanted to know what was happening in that fog.

}i{ }i{

Zabuza and Kakashi felt that crimson chakra.

'Oh, Kami! The seal! Was it?!' Kakashi thought as he turned towards the origin of the vile chakra. The Copy-nin sighed in relief as he realized that the seal wasn't broken, weakened but not broken. 'Minato-sensei... You need to tell Naruto about the true fate of the Kyuubi, before the seal breaks,' Kakashi thought as he shivered, he could sense the "dreams" of the Kyuubi from within the seal. They... Were not pleasant.

Zabuza could sense the chakra, but he didn't know who's it was. All he knew was that it wasn't Haku or Kakashi's.

}i{ }i{

Haku quickly threw twenty needles at Naruto as he attacked. The blond deflected the needles with just his chakra.

Naruto started his rage filled assault on the ice mirrors to attack the masked boy.

}i{ }i{

Kakashi readied his kuni knife as he stood in front of Zabuza, whom readied his massive sword.

}i{ }i{

Naruto punched Haku in the masked so hard it was like falling face first off a cliff. With that attack the ice mirrors shattered.

'Zabuza-sama... I'm sorry... I can't stop him.' Haku thought solemnly as his mask shattered into pieces.

In a fit of rage, Naruto charged at Huka with the intent to kill.

'I failed you...' Haku thought as he awaited his fate, but it never came. Naruto stopped his fist midway to Haku's face.

"You're that kid from before. The one talking about Soulmates," Naruto said with rage still evident. "Why did you stop?" was all Haku asked. Naruto punched him right on his cheek, causing him to fall backwards. "Don't tell me that eyebrow-less guy's your Soulmate," Naruto asked, not looking at the boy before him. Haku didn't answer, which was answer enough for Naruto.

There was a loud shriek of pain.

"Zabuza-sama!" Haku said sensing the older's chakra and raced towards him.

"Kakashi!" Naruto shouted at the same time as Haku, but he sensed out his sensei's chakra and ran to him.

The fog was slowly fading.

}i{ }i{

"Zabuza-sama!" Haku called running up to the older ninja, whom was just standing there with his sword ready to strike but had a disbelieving look in his eyes. "Haku..." Zabuza said, realizing that the younger was there. "Are you okay?" Haku asked in a worried tone. Zabuza just nodded.

"Kakashi!"

The water ninjas turned to the shouting blond. The fog was clearing.

A kuni knife was on the ground and Kakashi was a bit away from the water ninjas, clutching his head in pain. "Kakashi! What's wrong? What happened?" Naruto asked the Jōnin. Kakashi managed to get out through the pain in his head "Th-there's a N-n-nightmare R-radio n-near-by..." This got the three's attention. "But... We destroyed all of them," Naruto said as the Jōnin sank to his knees. "Nightmare Radio? The gizmos that give people nightmares?" Haku asked, this was a weird sight for him. Zabuza explained "Those gizmos also cause Dream Empaths nasty headaches. They can't get near them without experiencing pain." Haku blinked and asked "So why would there be a Nightmare Radio there? There's no reason for one to be here."

The fog was completely clear now and everyone could see.

}i{ }i{

Sakura and Shino saw Sasuke on the ground and Hinata sitting besides him.

Sakura, Tazuna, and Shino raced over to the two. They saw that the Uchiha wasn't moving and the Hyūga looked like she'd been crying. "No..." Sakura whispered. Tazuna was sadden by the scene. Shino read the scene and walked up to the Hyūga, whom told him not to come any closer. "I know how you feel," Shino said in his soft tone. "No you don't!" Hinata said sternly, but Shino sat next to her and said softly "My mother... Died protecting me." Hinata looked at her teammate, his face was sad. He rolled up his right sleeve, reviling a large scorch mark that covered most of his arm and said "There was a forest fire and mother used herself as a shield to save me. *Indicating the burn mark on his arm* This was the only damage I got from the fire because of her. So, I know how you feel." Hinata couldn't believe her ears and said "Really?" Shino nodded and muttered "I can tell you that the pain never really goes away."

Hinata's eyes fell back on Sasuke's stilled body. Shino placed a hand on her shoulder and said "He cared about you enough to give his life for yours. I know he was not your Soulmate, but I know he loved you just as much and he knew that you needed to live." Another tear rolled down her cheek.

}i{ }i{

There standing at a good distance away from Zabuza, Naruto, Haku, and Kakashi was Gatō, with a horde of his "hired hands" and what appears to be a large, metallic gray, stationary, satellite dish. "What are you doing here? Why'd you bring them?" Zabuza asked the tyrant suspiciously. With an evil smile, Gatō stated in an oddly happy tone "Why, I came to pick up my new Dream Empath, of coarse, and these nice gentlemen are simpley here to help with that." Kakashi growled under his breath as he kept one hand on his head and used the other to support his leg as he got into a kneeling position. Zabuza's eyes narrowed when he said "Was that the reason why you had Nightmare Radios in the village? To lure a Dream Empath here?" Gatō smiled a sadistic smile as he said "I already took what I wanted from this village and when I heard that Dream Empaths'll help anyone with unruly nightmares, I'd figured I'd use the villagers as irresistible bait for them." Over the pain in his head, Kakashi hissed out with more venom then a cobra "You bastard! Do you even know how horrible the nightmares from those accursed devises are?" The tyrant shrugged as he said "What do I care. I got my Dream Empath out of it?"

Kakashi glared at Gatō and said in that same venomous tone "I am a Dream Empath of Konohagakure. There is no way I'll ever be yours and there is NO way Konohagakure will allow you to get away with it." The tyrant sneered and eyed the goon closest to the Nightmare Radio, whom turned a dial on the device.

}i{ }i{

Kakashi now felt an entire symphony of jackhammers AND hurricanes playing inside his skull. The pain was sooooooo unbearable! He didn't even feel himself hit the hard pavement of the bridge, nor did he hear Naruto and Sakura shout his name in distress as he went down. The only thing Kakashi was aware of right now was the immense pain from the Nightmare Radio.

}i{ }i{

"KAKASHI!" Naruto shouted as his sensei clutched his head in agony and curled into a ball. Sakura rushed to their side. "That's... That's not just a nasty headach, is it?" Haku asked watching the sight before him. THAT kind of pain was something Haku had never seen before, and it wasn't a good feeling. Now the Copy-nin was visibly shaking, the pain must have been horrible.

"Zabuza, would you mind bringing the Dream Empath here for us? I'll double your pay if you do," Gatō asked in a polite matter, as if he wasn't seeing someone in imminse pain before him. For once, Haku wasn't sure this was the right thing to do. Zabuza didn't move, his eyes were on Kakashi, and he didn't even see Naruto glaring at him. The blond was willing to attack the Missing-nin if he came close to his sensei.

After what felt like forever, Zabuza finally said "No."

Gatō was a bit surprised by that, but recovered quickly and said "Alright fine, I'll triple your pay."

Zabuza moved until he was blocking the tyrant's view of Kakashi. "The pay isn't why I'm saying no," the Missing-nin stated harshly. He looked over his shoulder to Naruto and asked him "What do you think of this situation, boy?" The blond blinked a couple of times, he wasn't expecting anyone to ask him that. "Ano, I hate it for one," Naruto finally said, glancing at his family friend and sensei, then added "The second... It's not right. I mean, this is something that only a soulless, heartless monster would think about and do, and anyone who agrees with that monster is even worse..." Zabuza closed his eyes and said "You're right about that boy. I will admit, I am considered a Demon, I even agree with that. And, *opens eyes* even I wouldn't agree with that plan, no matter how much you pay me." The Missing-nin pointed his giant broadsword at the tyrant.

"Oh? Are you saying that you have a heart?" Gatō said in amusement. "I suppose you could say that, but not in the way you think," Zabuza said, shrugging his shoulders. Naruto blinked and thought 'Isn't he suppose to be the enemy?' "Boy," The blond heard the Missing-nin say, so Naruto looked up at his back and said "Yeah?" After a second or so, Zabuza finally said "Take care of Haku for me... I'm going to end this." Then he took off directly at the Nightmare Radio.

"Wait! Zabu-" Haku shouted before his body gave out on him. He really did use too much chakra on the Ice Mirrors. Sakura managed to catch him before he hit the ground. Haku watched in horror as Zabuza charge at the horded of goons. 'What did he mean by him ending this?' Naruto thought in confusion as he watch the scene before him.

Gatō quicly shouted at the goons to protect the gadget and him.

As the Missing-nin was attacked by the croonies as he continued on towards his first target. He never raised his sword to defend himself in any way, he just kept moving and took whatever weapon the goon had. When he got in stricking distance of the Nightmare Radio, he finally raised his blade and split the device in two.

The moment the Nightmare Radio was destroyed, the pain in Kakashi's head was gone. The Dream Empath quickly got to his knees and saw what Sakura, Haku, and Naruto were seeing. "Zabuza..." Kakashi muttered. "Sensei..." Sakura said not really sure what to ask as she held Haku back.

With daggers, swords, and javelins embedded in his body, Zabuza turned to his next target. To all of the evildoers standing in front of the Missing-nin, they could see that his chakra took the shape of a demon before he launched himself forward. All of the goons did their best to stop the Demon, but he just kept charging towards Gatō, just like a real demon.

The Tyrant ordered the goons to stop him, but nothing could stop the oncoming demon.

'Haku... I know your going to be sad...' Zabuza thought as he raised his broadsword to strike. 'But...' The Missing-nin brought down his sword, slicing Gatō in half before the tyrant could do anything. 'It's for your own good...' Zabuza thought as he too fell to the ground, the damage he received was finally taking it's toll. As he fell, Zabuza saw Haku reaching out to him with tears in his eyes. 'I'm sorry...' The Missing-nin was now on the ground.

}i{ }i{ In A Dark Place }i{ }i{

Were am I? Why is it so dark?

"SASUKE!"

Someone was calling me... My Soulmate? Why?

"Sakuke! Wake up!"

Wake up? What do you mean?

"You need to wake up! You're not dead!"

I'm... Not?

"No, you're not. So, wake up?"

Why?

"Your family and friends need you and we haven't met in person yet. Don't you want to meet the real me?"

... Yes...

}i{ }i{

Sasuke's eyes slowly opened, the first thing he saw was Hinata crying.

"Hi...na...ta..."

Hinata and Shino's eyes quickly snapped to Sasuke's face. He was alive! "Were... You... Crying?" Sasuke asked looking at his friend. Hinata wiped her eyes and said "Of coarse I was. I thought you were dead." Sasuke chuckled weakly and said "I thought so too." Shino helped the Uchiha into a sitting position and muttered "I suggest you not move too much."

Sakura noticed the scene and told Naruto and Kakashi that Sasuke was alive. When the Uchiha noticed them looking at him, he just waved at them. "He survived that? He really is a shinobi..." was all Haku could say. After all, no one before was able to survive that attack.

The horde of goons interrupted the ninjas by saying that they were going to raid and kill the village to make up for their meal ticket being dead. An arrow was shot right at the feet of the horde. All of the villagers were present along with Kurenai-sensei, Kiba, Akamaru, Tsunami, and Inarī. The boy was holding a crossbow.

The goons were a bit unnerved, so Naruto used the Kage Bunshin No Jutsu and made ten clones. To put the nail in the coffin, Kakashi used the Kage Bunshin No Jutsu to create 50 illusion clones and scare the goons off.

Everyone cheered. Everyone but Haku. He couldn't really move, not after remembering that Zabuza was near-death.

Kakashi was the one to walk up to the Missing-nin. "It's over," was all Kakashi said to him. "I...see..." Zabuza said weakly before adding "Can...you...take...me...to..." Kakashi kneeled down and said "Sure" before carefully picking Zabuza up. The Copy-nin already knew what the Missing-nin wanted.

"Miss..." Haku asked Sakura as he pointed towards Kakashi and Zabuza. The pink-haired kunoichi nodded and helped him move to the two older ninjas. Kakashi carefully laid Zabuza on the ground and Sakura let Haku go. The pre-teen immediately stat on hi knees and moved the Missing-nin so that he was cradled in the boys arms. "Ha...ku..." Zabuza whispered out, his strength was fading. "Please don't leave me," Was all Haku could say. By this time, Naruto was standing near them.

"Haku... I don't think he's going to make it," Kakashi told the boy as he saw tears in his eyes. Haku shook his head and hugged Zabuza closer. Kakashi knelt down and said "I know Zabuza wants to tell you something, but it looks like he's not going to be able to tell you like this. *Holds a hand up* But I know where he can talk to you for as long as he has left, but I need your consent." Haku looked at the Copy-nin and then to Zabuza, whom looked like he wanted to tell him something but didn't have the energy to do so. "Alright..." Haku said closing his eyes. Zabuza moved his eyes towards the Copy-nin, telling him that he has his consent as well. So, Kakashi placed his hands on Haku's and Zabuza's head and closed his eyes.

Not really sure what to think, Naruto was about to place a hand on Kakashi's shoulder. "Wait, Naruto!" Sakura tried to warn, but it was too late. When Naruto touched Kakashi's shoulder, he was sent to another world. Another plane of existence.

}i{ }i{

ZY: Before Naruto goes jumping into the Dream Plane, I'll be working on a Flash Forward Episode. It'll be taking place in Boruto's era, so be prepared to see the next generation of ninjas in this AU.


	6. Flash Forward 1: New Generation

Dreams of Passion turned into Reality; Flash Forward 1

}i{ }i{

ZY: These Flash Forward chapters takes place in the future, The Boruto Era time frame. So all the Naruto timeframe characters are adults (they look the same as their canon counterparts) with their own families. Note: Boruto is still Naruto's son in this AU, but the other children... Well, some of those are another story. Also, this is just an introduction chapter for the next gen ninjas.

}i{ }i{

'DAMN! DAMN! DAMN!' Boruto thought as he raced across the rooftops of Konohagakure. 'Dad is soooooooooo going to kill me if I don't bring everyone together in like 30 minutes!' Boruto thought as he made a quick turn.

Why today of all days did his alarm have to die on him?

}i{ }i{

Rock Lee was having friendly spar with his son, Metal, whom by the way looks just like him but was wearing a bright orange scarf instead of leg warmers, in a very big, spacious backyard. "Make sure you keep your guard up no matter what," Lee said with a smile on his face as he block an oncoming punch. Metal happily replied "Yes, Papa!" as he was pushed back and landed on his feet not to far away from his dad.

"Rock! Metal!"

The two stopped immediately when they heard the voice calling them. Both turned towards the voice, and there standing on the porch was Hyūga Neji with his arms folded, wearing a forest green yukata, and had a stern look on his face. "What are you two doing?" Neji demanded rather than asked. Lee smiled and said "We are simply having a friendly father/son sparring match before he leaves." Metal blinked his semi-rounded lotus purple eyes and said to Neji "Otōsan, I asked Papa to spar with me while I waited for Boruto-kun." Neji raised a brow and asked "Wasn't he suppose to be here half an hour ago?" Metal nodded and added that the blond was late for some reason. Neji walked up to the two, smoothed out his son's shiny black hair, and said calmly "I don't want you picking up any of his bad habits, understand Metal." The teen smiled a bit and said "Yes Otōsan."

"METAL! I'M HERE!" Boruto shouted as he landed on the wall of the Hyūga estate.

Metal gave Neji a quick hug and gave Lee a thumps-up before he left with the blond. The two watched their son leave. Neji shook his head and said "That boy is too much like his father when he was at that age." Lee wrapped an arm around Neji, kissed his cheek, and said "Do you expect anything less from the Hokage's son?" Neji sighed as Lee nuzzled his neck and said "In all honestly Rock, I was actually expecting more from him." Lee chuckled and tucked Neji's head under his chin.

}i{ }i{

A teenage girl with spiky black hair, beady black eyes, pointy teeth that showed when she smiled, red fang marks ran down her cheeks, wore a tight gray shirt with the sleeved torn off, black finger-less gloves, gray slacks, and black shoes raced alongside a pair of wolf-sized dogs in a large backyard. "Raiko? Sweetie, why are still here?" Kiba asked the girl as he walked onto the porch. The teen, Raiko, flashed a frown, patted a brown wolf-dog, and said "Boruto's late." Kiba sighed. 'Why'd Naruto put him in charge of this?' Kiba thought as he motioned Raiko to come over, she did. "If Boruto, or anyone for the matter, does anything funny to you, don't be afraid to use a couple of Kikaichū on him," Kiba told Raiko, whom smirked and replied "You don't need to tell me twice, Dad."

Shino poked his head out the door, carrying a wrapped bento box, and said "Ladybug, make sure you eat this when you have lunch." Raiko frowned, took the bento, and said "I will, just stop calling me that." Kiba looked up at his Soulmate and asked if he knew that Boruto was running late. "I did, so I decided to add a few more things to the bento," Shino said with a straight face. "Papa, you didn't have to," Raiko whined out. She really didn't like the fact that her papa alway needed to make sure she ate a balanced meal. 'How's Dad put up with that,' Raiko thought feeling the weight of the bento.

"RAIKO! I'M HERE!" Boruto shouted from the front yard. Metal covered his ears for that.

"Guess I'm off then," Raiko said as she stood up. Kiba nodded and said "If you see Shun, tell him that he needs to help with grandpa's birthday party." Raiko said "Will do. Solo, come on boy." the brown wolf-sized dog followed her to the front. "Make sure YOU eat YOUR bento. I WILL know if you don't," Shino told his daughter as she turned the corner with a sigh. She knew he probably had a few of his Kikaichū keeping an eye on her to make sure she ate.

Kiba chuckled and said "Cuddle Bug, I know you love her and all, but maybe you should lighten up on making her eat right a bit." Shino didn't say anything as Kiba wrapped his arms around him.

An elderly Akamaru barked.

}i{ }i{

An eight-year-old girl with long black hair, dark eyes, semi-dark skin, was wearing a plain blue short sleeved shirt, dark blue hakama, white socks, and a pair of geta was throwing some ice daggers into the ground. She looked rather board.

"Tsurara?" asked a voice from the house to the porch. A man in his late 40s with waist-long black hair that was tied in a braid with his bangs hanging in front of his face, was wearing a light blue yukata walked out of the house and asked "What are you still doing here, Sweetie?" The girl, Tsurara, sighed, throwing another dagger to the ground and said "Boruto's late, Papa." Tsurara's father chuckled "Really?" and sat next to his daughter. The girl tossed another dagger at the ground, turns out she was making a snowflake pattern with the ice daggers, and said "I should have gone ahead, instead of waiting for Boruto." The man chuckled and said "He's too much like his father when he was that age." Tsurara scoffed and said "Like the Hokage was ever an irresponsible brat." Tsurara's father chuckled, he knew what Naruto was like long before he became Hokage.

"I'M HERE!"

"Oh~? I think that's Boruto~." Tsurara's father said happily. "About time," Tsurara said in a huff. Boruto, Metal, Raiko, and Solo jumped into the back yard. "Yo, Haku-ojisan," Boruto said with a cheeky smile. Tsurara's father, Haku, smiled back and said "You really need to work on your time management skills." Boruto chuckled nervously as the other ninjas sighed.

}i{ }i{

A teenage boy with short pink hair, green eyes, plain face, wore a red shirt, navy slacks, and navy shoes was practicing his punches on a punching bag. He wanted to be in good shape. After all, his goal was to be the best shinobi he could be, which means he needed brains and brawns.

"Momo? What are you still here?" Sakura asked her son when she walked into the gym. "Boruto's *punch* late *punch*" the teen, Momo, said. Sakura sighed and muttered "Why am I not surprised..." Momo steadied the bag and said "It's Boruto."

One minute later, Boruto came.

}i{ }i{ 35 Minutes Later }i{ }i{

Boruto was also able to gather Nara Shikadai, Akimichi Chocho, Yamanaka Inojin, and Mitsuki. Okay, Mitsuki found him, but at least everyone's together.

"About time boy," said a relatively tall blue-skinned woman with long midnight black hair that was tied back, midnight black eyes, small nose, thin lips, thin gills under her eyes, and was wearing Anbu garbs. With a sigh, the Anbu woman said "Honestly, your time management skills suck. You should have brought everyone here 25 minutes ago." Boruto muttered something along the line of his alarm dying on him. "What was that, boy?" the Anbu woman stated in an authoritative tone. Boruto then stated louder "Nothing Tzu..." the Anbu woman, Tzu, glared at the blond and stated, showing her razor sharp teeth, "Excuse me?" Boruto jumped and quickly stated "N-nothing Uchiha-Hoshigaki-san."

"Ane~(1)" called a tall man with spiky midnight black hair, midnight black eyes, had a slight blue tint to his skin, had a small nose, had thin gills under his eyes, thin lips that were in a wide grin that showed his bladed teeth, he too was also wearing Anbu garbs, and had a broadsword that was almost as tall as him was wrapped in white bandages strapped on his back. Tzu glanced at the Anbu male and asked "What is it Sung?" The Anbu man, Sung, grin widened and said "The Hokage wants these ninjas inside, like 20 minutes ago." Tzu thumbed Baruto, said "Talk to the Hokage's kid." and walked into the building.

/\/\

Uchiha-Hoshigaki Tzu and Sung were the twin children of Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame. Tzu was older then Sung by a good seven minutes, so Tzu took the position as heir of the Uchiha clan while Sung inherited Samehada from Kisame. Lucky for the twins and their parents, Sung took after Kisame while Tzu took after Itachi.

/\/\

Sung looked at Boruto, said "Goodness boy, you really aren't earning any points with Ane. Come on gang, Hokage-sama's waiting." and motioned the young ninjas to follow him. "My alarm really did die on me..." Boruto muttered as he walked into the building with the others. Metal patted him on the back, showing the blond his lotus purple eyes, and said "Let it go, Boruto. Just try to make it up to Tzu-nee when you get the chance." Boruto huffed and said "Easy for you to say, she likes you, not me. By the way, why do you still call her Tzu-nee?" Metal's cheeks turned pink and muttered "Old habits..."

/\/\

Metal was a Hyūga, so he was good family friends with the Uchihas. But that wasn't the only reason why Tzu liked Metal. Even though the Uchiha heir was a good decade and a half older then the Hyūga boy, she was his Soulmate. That's right, Uchiha Tzu had her Soulmate Dreams about her and Metal three years ago, when he was twelve, the previous Hokage and still working Dream Empath Hatake Kakashi confirmed it. This was a really big deal for the two families.

Hyūga Hiashi and Hizashi use to joke about having a wedding between the two families, neither of the two expected it to actually happen, well not in their lifetime. The former head of the Hyūga clan and his twin brother had the pleasure of giving the two a pair of engagment rings and both were hoping that they'll live long enough to witness the wedding.

/\/\

The group walked into the building.

}i{ }i{

"Raiko..." said a man with short brown hair, rounded black-tinted glasses, red fang marks on his cheeks, small pointed nose, wore a gray overcoat with a high collar, black slacks, and had his hands in his pockets. Two wolf-sized dogs stood next to him, one was brown with ginger splotches and the other was ginger with white splotches. The man was looking right at the group of young ninjas.

Raiko smiled wildly and said "Shun! What are you doing here? I thought you were out on a mission and wasn't going to see you until late." Shun was Kiba and Shino's son and Raiko's older brother. "Wasn't actually a long mission," Shun said quietly. Raiko raised an eyebrow and said "I see. Dad and Papa said you still have to help out with grandpa's birthday party." Shun nodded. He wasn't much of a conversationalist, his sister knew that. Raiko patted the two dogs on their head as she walked by and Shun ruffled her hair.

The group continued to follow Sung. "Is he cute under all those layers?" Chocho whispered to Raiko, whom replied "Ew, gross, that's my brother your asking about." Shikadai couldn't help but shutter and thought 'Why does Chocho have to talk about boys at a time like this? Such a drag...'

}i{ }i{

Nara Shikamaru greeted the group. "Hey, dad," Shikadai said to his father, then asked "Why'd we need to be here?" Shikamaru grinned and said "The Hokage'll tell you himself." Boruto's eyes lit up and asked "Really?!" The adviser nodded, opened a door, and notion the group into the room.

The Hokage, Boruto's father, Uzumaki Naruto, was standing in the room with Uchiha Tzu and a teenage girl with midnight black hair that only reached her neck in length, midnight black eyes that sat behind a pair of red glasses, plain face, wore a red shirt, white shorts, relatively tight black thigh-high socks, and black shoes. "Hey, everyone," Naruto happily said, then motioned the girl to step forward. "I'd like to introduce you to our new ninja of Konohagakure, Uchiha Sarada," The Hokage said as the girl bowed politely. "Wait, Uchiha? But Tzu and Sung don't have any younger siblings," Boruto stated, earning a glare from the two Uchiha girls, the male Uchiha just sighed. Naruto chuckled and said "She's their cousin, Uchiha Sasuke's daughter."

The room went silent. THE Uchiha Sasuke!? Boruto HAS heard that he had a child. But that was a good few years ago.

Naruto explained that Sarada wanted to live in Konohagakure, were her father grew up, and since Sasuke is still a Konohagakure citizen, by birth Sarada is a Konohagakure citizen and has a right to live in the village if she wishes. "Sasuke-oji-sama gave his consent for Sarada to live here on the condition that she stays at the Uchiha residents," Tzu explained as she kept a careful eye on the young ninjas before her. "So don't get any ideas on trying to sneaking into her room~" Sung said playfully, causing Sarada to turn redder then her shirt and shouted at her cousin not to say such things.

Naruto finally said "I've asked you all here because you all are the same age and are also ninjas, so that she'll feel a bit comfortable when you all show her around the village. Maybe you guys can become friends." The Uchiha heir wasn't too trilled with the idea of letting "children" act as guides. The Hokage told her to relax and that her fiancé was with the group. Sarada was now really red when she stuttered "Fi-fi-fi-fiancé!? Y-y-you're engaged, Tzu-itoko(2)-sama!? T-t-to who?"

Metal timidly raised his hand and said "Ano, that would be me... My name's Hyūga Metal, her... Soulmate..." Sarada adjusted her glasses and looked at the boys lotus purple eyes, confirming that he was a Hyūga. Sung chuckled and said "It's true, Sarada-itoko~. He's going to be my brother-in-law in a couple of years." The youngest Uchiha stated along the lines of that Metal was practically her age. That was when the Uchiha male chuckled again and stated that that was the reason why Tzu and Metal were waiting a few years before they wed. "No worries my dear future cousin, I shall do my best to support Tzu-nee, err, I mean, my Soulmate and our families," Metal said happily, giving Sarada a thumbs-up and a shiny smile. Uchiha Tzu couldn't help but smile a bit, she loved Metal and all but she was really hoping that he grows out of this Konohagakure Green Beast thing before they marry.

}i{ }i{ After Half the Day }i{ }i{

The gang was only able to show Sarada 1/4th of the village by the time their parents started calling them.

"But Papa... But... Okay, Papa, I'll be home by dark... I'm like seven blocks from home. Okay, okay, I'll start walking... Okay, see you soon Papa," Tsurara said into her cellphone before hanging up and telling the other ninjas that she had to go before her father started looking for her. Shikadai, Inojin, Momo, and Boruto shuttered, they knew that when Haku started "searching" for his little girl, well, lets just say that you'd better be ready for a sudden winter spell.

They waved the girl off as she headed home. "Ano, not to be rude, but why is an eight-year-old in a group of ninjas in the 14-15 year age range?" Sarada asked the group. They looked at one another before saying "To put it simply, she was too skilled to stay in her age group, and she's too much like Haku-ojisan." The Uchiha did ask who this Haku person was, but was interupted by more rings.

}i{ }i{

All but Metal, Mitsuki, and Boruto got a call to come home. Since it was getting late, the boys decided to walk Sarada to the Uchiha resident. Metal called his parent to tell them that he was going to spend the night at the Uchihas.

"I woun't Papa, don't worry... Tell Otōsan I'll be there... Okay, love you," The Hyūga said over his cellphone. Sarada did ask Metal suspiciously if it was really alright for him to sleep over at the Uchiha resident, she apparently was still not taking the information from earlier today very well. Metal nodded and said "Itachi-ojisan and Kisame-ojisan don't mind and the twins are fine with it. Plus, I AM marrying Tzu-nee, I mean, Tzu in a couple of years."

Mitsuki couldn't help but say "I hope you don't sneek into Tzu-chan's room in the middle of the night for some fun when you're there." Baruto and Sarada's face turned pink, but Metal just blinked in confusion and asked what Mitsuki meant. Aparently, he didn't understand then implication. 'He's too innocent...' Boruto, Sarada, and Mitsuki thought in unison. Metal did add not to call his fiancée Tzu-chan in her presence. The three asked why and the Hyūga replied "I think it be best to ask the last person who called her that, I think he's still in the hospital." Neither Boruto, Mitsuki, nor Sarada knew what to say but they knew what NOT to do.

}i{ }i{ Uchiha Residents }i{ }i{

"Sarada! Look how much you've grown!" Itachi (has a couple of graying hairs and a few wrinkles now) said happily as he hugged his niece, whom happily hugged back. "Oji-sama, it's soooo good to see you again," Sarada said as she pulled out of the hug. The Uchiha head smiled and said "You look just like Sasuke when he was your age, minus the glasses of coarse." The youngest Uchiha adjusted her red frames. Metal took off his shoes and slipped on a pair of slippers as he entered the house.

"Yo, Itachi-san," Boruto said looking through the doorway with Mitsuki. Itachi looked at them, waved hi, and said "I heard you were late because of a dead alarm, Boruto." the blond muttered "The Twins told you, didn't they..." The Uchiha head nodded and said "Boruto if you knew your alarm was faulty, why didn't you get a new one?" now the blond was pink. It never crossed his mind to get a new clock. Mitsuki chuckled.

"Just giving you boys the heads up, *pats the youngest Uchiha on the shoulder* Sarada's starting at the Ninja Academy tomorrow," Itachi said happily. "Really?!" the boys stated in utter shock. "That soon?" Metal asked his future father-in-law. "I wanted to get into the action as soon as possible, and I figure it be the best way for get my barring here," Sarada said with a small smile. Itachi muttered that she was a bit too much like Sasuke.

"Soooooo... We'll see you tomorrow?" Boruto asked Sarada, whom replied "Yup." With that, Boruto and Mitsuki left to head to their respective homes.

"I'll show you your new room Sarada," Itachi said as he locked the door. The youngest Uchiha smiled happily and followed her uncle.

Metal already knew where his room was, so he headed there. On his way, he spotted a certain picture on a table that was used for memorabilia. Metal picked up that picture and looked at it. It was a picture of Sarada and her father along with another person standing next to Sasuke and a boy standing next to Sarada, whom was the same age as her. Metal smiled and thought that the family in the picture were happy as he placed it back in place before heading off to his room.

}i{ }i{ In Another Village }i{ }i{

Uchiha Sasuke was looking at that very same picture as Metal was looking at. The Uchiha sighed, he really didn't want his little girl so far away from him but he knew she needed to spread her wings, so to speak, especially since her twin brother was sooooo far ahead of her ninja-wise.

/\/\

Yes, Uchiha Sasuke had twins, just like Itachi did. Also like Itachi, Sasuke had a boy and a girl, but in this case the boy was older than his sister by five minutes. Those two were sooooooo close when they were little, but once they became ninjas...

/\/\

A pair of arms wrapped around Sasuke. "Don't tell me you actually regret letting her go to Konohagakure?" said the owner of those arms, the Uchiha's Soulmate. Sasuke placed the framed picture on the nearby table and said "It doesn't matter what I feel. It was her decision, her right to go... I couldn't have stopped her even if I wanted to, and...it would have been more difficult for her there if I hadn't allowed her to go..." Sasuke's Soulmate rested their chin on the Uchiha's shoulder and said "She needed to spread her wings and she won't be able to do that here, not with her being in her twins shadow." Sasuke buried part of his face in a hand and said "What happen to them? They were practically conjoined twins, but now... It's like Sarada wanted to get as far from him as possible..." The Soulmate rested their cheek on Sasuke's and suggested "It might be a phase, you know something twins prabably go through." Sasuke wasn't really sure about that idea, he just wanted his children to get along again. The Soulmate turned Sasuke's head so that they could kiss.

When they pulled away from eachother, the Soulmate said "They ARE our children, they'll find away to go back to the twins we love again." "I hope you're right," Sasuke said, snuggling into his Soulmate's arms.

}i{ }i{ Konohagakure, the Next Day }i{ }i{

Aburame-Inuzaka Shino introduced Sarada to the class. A lot of the boys started crushing on her almost immediately. There was an open seat next to Raiko, Shino's daughter, so Sarada sat there patting Solo's head, Raiko's Inuzaka Dog, as she walked by. Shino then continued with his lesson. The Team Assignment Tests were coming up in a week, so Aburame-sensei was reviewing everything that they learnt. "Raiko would it be alright if you make copies of your notes for Uchiha-san?" Shino asked his daughter. "No problem at all Pa-, err, sensei," Raiko said looking over her notes. There were a couple of murmurs of "Teachers pet" in the room. "Must I say this everytime you "children" bring this up?" Shino said in an annoyed tone, this happens everytime he asked Raiko to do something in class, which wasn't really much (collecting papers occationally, getting extra pencles, and making copies of her notes). Guess this is what happens when a teacher's child was in their class. "I've seen all of your written assignments, Raiko has the most readable handwriting out of all of you, making her the best choice for sharing notes," Shino stated plainly. Sarada wasn't to sure if this was normal or not, so she didn't say anything.

The class continued.

}i{ }i{ After Classes Ended }i{ }i{

All of Boruto's ninja friends were training on the school's training grounds. Sarada was there too, hiding in the shadows of some bushes, since she didn't really know a lot of people in the Academy and the group were the only one she knew. Plus she wanted to find out more about Boruto and if this Metal kid was worthy of her cousin's hand in marriage.

"Talking to them would probably give you more answers then just watching him from the shadows like this," whispered a voice in Sarada's ear, which scared her out of her skin and completely giving away her position. Boruto blinked and said "Sarada? What are you doing here?"

Raiko sniffed the air then grinned and said "Shun~ any particular reason you're scaring her?" Shun took a few stepped out of the shadows, near where Sarada was hiding. "I was just giving her some advise. Guess I forgot to let myself be known before I told her the advise," Shun said quietly. Raiko sighed, this really wasn't anything new to her. Sarada was currently trying to steady her heartbeat. "We have to go home now, Raiko, Tsurara, it's grandpa Shibi's birthday. Papa's already stalling him," Shun said softly walking over to his younger sister and Tsurara.

So, Raiko, Solo, and Tsurara said good-bye to her friends and headed off with Shun.

"It must be nice to have an older brother," Chocho said almost dreamily. Shikadai remarked outline that she was probably dramaticising it and that he was glad to be an only child. Chocho was already trying to hurt the Nara. Inojin and Metal were trying to stop the fight, but was failing miserably. Momo sighed in disappointment. Boruto just jumped into the fry just for the fun of it. Mitsuki just watched.

Sarada just walked away from the sene. 'Older brothers...' Sarada thought bitterly as she started on her way back to the Uchiha residents.

}i{ }i{ Flash Forward 1, end. }i{ }i{

1) Ane means Elder Sister in Japanese.

2) Itoko means Cousin in Japanese.

}i{ }i{

ZY: let me know what you all think of this Flash Forward ^_^.


	7. Chapter 6: Dream Plane and More

ZY; Next chapter, Hurray.

}i{ }i{

Dreams of Passion turned into Reality, Chapter 6; The Dream Plane and More

}i{ }i{

'Where am I?' Naruto thought as he looked around. There was snow everywhere. He was on the bridge just a few seconds ago, so how'd he get here in this snowy field?

"We're in a Dream Plane, Naruto," Said Kakashi, whom was standing near a couple of trees with Haku. "Dream Plane?" Naruto questioned for a moment, but it did make sense. "I'll show you your own Dream Plane another day, but right now, there's something important to do," Kakashi said motioning the two younger ninjas to follow him.

So they did.

}i{ }i{ The Bridge }i{ }i{

Everyone couldn't help but stare at the sene in front of them. The Dream Empath had three people in the Dream Plane with him, no one was sure what to think at the moment.

Shino helped Sasuke walk to the sene. Hinata, Kiba, Akamaru, and Kurenai walked there too. Sakura was amazed, she knew that Dream Empaths were able to bring more then one person to the Dream Plane but she didn't know they could bring more then two. "He's a powerful Dream Empath," Hinata said as she carefully walked close to Sakura, making sure she didn't put too much pressure on her sore ankle, and added "This sort of thing is easy for him." Sakura couldn't help but be amazed.

}i{ }i{ The Dream Plane }i{ }i{

Zabuza sat at the edge of a beautiful pond that was surrounded by a thin layer of mist at dusk, one that he'd seen years ago but every detail was embedded in his mind. No wonder it was here in his Dream Plane.

"It's beautiful," Zabuza heard Haku's voice. The Missing-nin turned to the three ninjas and said "Yeah, I know. I've only seen it once, but I could never forget it, especially at sunset." Kakashi motioned Haku to go to Zabuza. The boy did, and asked the Missing-nin "What did you want to say to me?" Zabuza took a deep breath and said "I...should have told you this ages ago." the Missing-nin fidgeted a bit. Kakashi sighed and said "Zabuza, I hate to tell you this, but you have to tell him NOW. You don't have much time left." Naruto wondered what his sensei was talking about. Okay, the blond knew what he meant by not having a lot of time left, but what did the Missing-nin want to say to the pre-teen?

"Is it the fact that I'm your Soulmate?" Haku asked innocently. This shocked everyone, now Naruto got what they were talking about. 'But, if Zabuza never told Haku, then how'd he know?' the blond asked himself. "How'd you?" was all Zabuza could ask. "I noticed how you act around me. How much you let me get away with when we're doing our "Fun Activities" and how much you taught me, so I put two and two together," Haku stated with pink on his cheeks. 'Okaaaaay... I don't think I want to know what those fun activities are...' Naruto thought with a dusting of pink on his cheeks. "Why didn't you say anything?" Zabuza asked. With tears in his eyes, Haku said "Because... I wanted YOU to tell me yourself. I know I'm too young to have my Soulmate Dreams, but I... Wasn't sure when I get mine after I turn 15. And... I knew you knew..." Haku bit his lip.

Naruto asked Kakashi if it was always this difficult for one to tell someone that they are their Soulmate. Kakashi simply said "It's different for each individual, but I'd say about 85% of my clients looking for their Soulmates have a hard time telling them when they find them. One reason why us Dream Empaths draw the Soulmates and date the image, to make it a bit easier to tell them." 'So, there was really a lot more to being a Dream Empath then I thought there was,' Naruto thought. Analyzing dreams, creating images of Soulmates, counseling the people about their Soulmates, and acting as a psychologist... 'And on top of being a ninja... Kakashi really is an amazing guy... Heh, I actually feel a bit jealous for who ever his Soulmate is...' Naruto thought.

Zabuza stood up, pulled Haku into a hug, and practically shouted "You're my Soulmate Haku!" Tears filled the Missing-nin's eyes as he held the boy tighter and added "I'm so so sorry that you had to learn it like this. I should have told you earlier... I'm so sorry..." all Haku said was "Zabuza..." The Missing-nin pulled down the bandages over his mouth and kissed Haku right on the lips. The pre-teen wrapped his arms around the Missing-nin. Naruto couldn't help but blush red when he saw this (the only people Naruto has seen kissing were his parents). For Kakashi, this was pretty underwhelming; after all, he's seen numerous Soulmate Dreams (a ton of those were VERY "hot and steamy").

After a minute or so, Zabuza faded away. The lake vanished, as did the sunset, mist, and forest, leaving only the snow. Tears flowed freely out of Haku's eyes as he sank to his knees. Kakashi closed his eyes. Naruto casted his eyes to the ground.

Zabuza, the Demon of the Hidden Mist, had just died due to the severe injuries that were inflicted on him by Gatō's men.

The snow now came down hard. Naruto wasn't sure if he should prepare for a blizzard or not. Kakashi walked up to Haku, placed a hand on his shoulder, and said "Haku, I know the pain is intense, but this was Zabuza's choice, he did this so you could be spared the attention from the Hunters from the Hidden Mist. He knew they didn't know your face or real abilities." "Did you find this out from being in his Dream Plane?" was all Haku asked. Kakashi said "Yes, but not on purpose. Dream Empaths cannot completely control what memories we see when we enter one's Dream Plane, so I saw a couple of memories of you two fighting off the Hunters and some memories of you doing a lot of "Interesting" things to Zabuza." Naruto was really turning red, he knew what was implied. Haku looked up at the Dream Empath and asked "So he gave his life... To protect me?" Kakashi nodded and said "Soulmates need eachother for a reason. You were his "Heart" Haku, that's why he needed you, that's why he wanted to protect you. And he was your "Strength", he was why you are as strong as you are, that's why you needed him." Haku turned his eyes back to the ground and said "So without him... I'm weak..." "No, Haku, no, that's not what I mean," Kakashi said as he kneeled next to the boy and added " "Strength" can mean a number of things. In this case, he was the reason why you became strong. He taught you everything you know and how to use that knowledge. It's like how water and sunlight are to a tree. Do you understand Haku? Zabuza was the rain and sunlight to your tree. He made you strong, but what you do with it now is up to you."

"Up to me..." Haku muttered as the snowfall lightened. Naruto walked up to the two and said "Haku... Zabuza told me to take care of you, so I'll help you as long as you need it." Haku just looked at the blond. Kakashi chuckled and said with a smiling eye "Naruto will do it, it's just his nature to help people." Naruto then added that he'll try to convince his dad to let Haku stay with them until he found a new purpose in life. The Dream Empath saw that coming.

Kakashi felt a bit woozy when he said "Looks like our time in the Dream Plane is up." The two boys nodded.

}i{ }i{ The Bridge }i{ }i{

Naruto, Haku, and Kakashi opened their eyes. The blond blinked a couple of times before remembering that he was here before the Dream Plane. "So how was your trip to the Dream Plane, baka?" Sasuke said as soon as Naruto finally realized where he was. All the blond did was rub his head cheekily.

Haku looked at the body in his arms. He hugged the corps and muttered "Good-bye... Zabuza..."

}i{ }i{ Five Days Later }i{ }i{

The bridge was completed. The Konohagakure ninjas were going to head back to base with Haku after they finished visiting Zabuza's grave. The tombstone was a simple wooden cross with Zabuza's broadsword right behind it. Haku was currently praying at it. Shino placed a plate of origini in front of the grave as an offering. Sasuke was nearly completely healed. He was able to walk around on his own and he wasn't in a lot of pain as he moved. Sasuke and Hinata kept an eye on Haku's movements, they were the only ones that didn't completely trust the boy. Then again, the only people that Hinata trusted that were here were Sasuke and Kakashi.

When Haku was done, he walked up to the Dream Empath and said he was ready to go. Kakashi smiled and said "Alright, let's head out." As the group started walking, Haku walked a bit too close for Sasuke's liking. "What do you want?" Sasuke snapped. Yeah, the Uchiha wasn't exactly thrilled with the pre-teen. Haku just wanted to apologies again for nearly killing him. "I heard you the first time, you don't have to repeat yourself," Sasuke said with his hands in his pockets and added "I'll beat you next time, but if you use any dirty tricks it's not going to be me you're going to worried about." Haku blinked and smiled a bit. Hinata then added "Besides, there's no way you can defeat Itachi-nii with that ice trick." "Itachi?" Haku wondered out loud. Naruto told him that Itachi was Sasuke's older brother and was a top ranked ninja of Konohagakure. The Uchiha said that Itachi was THE best ninja in Konohagakure and added "If Ani wanted to, he could easily be the next Hokage." Haku was impressed when he asked "So why doesn't he want to be Hokage?" Sasuke cast his eyes to the ground and said "Ani... Has a lot on his plate at the moment." Naruto didn't say a thing, he knew exactly what was on that plate and he was literally just repairing his relationship with Sasuke, so he kept quiet about it.

When they got to the new bridge Tezuna, Tsunami, and Inarī saw them off.

}i{ }i{ About An Hour Later }i{ }i{

The ninjas were half-way to Konohagakure when Akamaru heard something. "What's wrong Maru?" Kiba asked the dog, whom then took off in the direction of the sound he heard. Both the Inuzaki and the Aburame ran after the dog, closely followed by the rest of the ninjas.

Akamaru sniffing what he found, a bundle of blankets resting against a tree. "What did you find?" Sakura asked the giant dog. Shino noticed that the blankets moved a bit and heard a small mewl coming from the blankets. So, the bug-nin kneeled down next to the pile and moved a corner of one of the blankets. "A...baby?!" Shino stated as he quickly and carefully picked up the bundle, reveiling the newborn in the blankets. "What's a baby doing all the way out here?" Naruto couldn't help but ask outloud. Hinata was the one who said sourly "Unfortunatly, I think the poor thing was abandoned." Sasuke cletched his fist in anger. Haku and Kurenai had a swell of sadness in their eyes. Kakashi carefully took the infant and said, carefully looking at the tiny thing, "He can't be more then a day or two... He also feels a bit too light for a newborn..." The newborn started squrming. So the Dream Empath adjusted the baby in his arms, so he could be more comfotable. The baby immediatly turned his head to Kakashi's chest, trying to find something. Kiba shook his head and said sadly "The poor thing's hungry, that must be why he's so light Kakashi-sensei." Sakura stated that they should bring the infant to a Konohagakure hospital as soon as possible. Everyone agreed on that, since the group had nothing for a baby that was only a few days old to eat.

So everyone practically raced towards Konohagakure.

}i{ }i{ Konohagakure General Hospital }i{ }i{

The newborn was happily sucking on a bottle filled with formula and was being cradled in Sasuke's arms.

"You found this little guy in a forest on your way back from a mission?" the attending nurse asking in shock. When he saw the group of ninjas walk in, he expected an injured teammate NOT a two-day-old newborn baby on the verge of starvation. Everyone from Team 7 & 8 nodded.

The attending doctor was already in the room, looking over the tiny life, whom was currently not happy when she took the bottle away when she was checking his health. The doctor told the infant if a soft voice "I'm sorry little guy, but you're going to get an upset tummy if eat that much that fast." "Is he going to be okay?" Shino asked the doctor. She looked at the group, nodded, and said "He'll be fine. He'll have to be on a fixed feeding schedule though. *Shakes head* Honestly, leaving this poor thing in the wood all by himself when just a few days old." Everyone had to agree.

Naruto stated out loud that if the parents didn't want the baby, they should have left him in a safe place like a hospital or an orphanage, not leave him for dead in a forest. Sakura informed Naruto that not all people think like that in a solum tone. Naruto looked at the newborn in Sasuke's arms, the little fella was happy to be sucking on the bottle again. "I'm going to make sure this kind of thing never happens when I become Hokage," Naruto promised in a serious tone. Kakashi couldn't help but smile at that and thought 'Just like Minato-sensei.'

"Practicing, Otōto (1)?" said a very familiar voice. It was Uchiha Itachi.

"Ani! What are you doing here?" Sasuke asked his older brother. Itachi smiled and said "Just here for a check-up. Did you get permission to hold that little one?" the doctor told the older Uchiha about the newborn. Itachi shook his head and said "I don't know what to say..." Haku kept an eye on the Older Uchiha and he did notice that Itachi was a bit on the heavy side. 'Was his weight the one of the reasons he doesn't want the Hokage title?' Haku thought, but then he notice something odd about the older Uchiha's chakra, or rather the two extra chakras. 'He's... Carrying!' Haku realized, that was when he noticed Hinata glaring at him, so he took a step back.

Shino took the tiny life and cradled him in his arms. Kiba placed a hand on his Soulmate's shoulder. The baby cooed happily at the two. "Don't worry, this little guy's in good hands," Kiba said with a smile. Shino nodded, said he knows, and handed the newborn to the nurse.

"Hinata-Sama!" The Hyūga turned towards the voice and said "Neji?" The person in question stopped in front of his cousin and asked if she was alright. "I'm fine, that's not why we're here," Hinata stated and pointed to the newborn in the nurse's arms. Neji blinked in confusion as Hinata told him that she'll explain everything later. "Hatake-san, Kurenai-san, you wouldn't mind if I steal Hinata and Sasuke," Itachi said suddenly as he placed a hand on his younger brother's head. The two senseis didn't mind especially since there was an Anbu around the corner.

That Anbu whispered something to the two team leaders. Kakashi questioned if they really needed to go now. The Anbu nodded. Kurenai told her team to take care on their way home and Kakashi said the same to his team, but told Naruto to keep an eye on Haku since the pre-teen was officially the blond's responsibility.

The Genins nodded to their respective sensei. Sasuke, Neji, and Hinata left with Itachi while the rest left for their respective homes. When Naruto arrived at his house with Haku, Kushina scolded her son. Something along the lines of him bringing a stranger in the house, but Naruto explained the situation to his mom and she calmed down a bit. Haku was a bit confused, but when Naruto explained that his mother was a bit protective of him, things became clear. "Haku, was it? We have a spare room, you're welcome to stay there until my Soulmate sees you, but *red chakra surrounds Kushina* if you so much as leave a scratch on my boy, YOU'RE GOING TO GET IT, got it?" Kushina stated plainly. Haku quickly agreed.

Well, at least thing'll be interesting.

}i{ }i{ The Next Morning }i{ }i{

Kakashi called his team and told them to meet him at the Hyūga estate at 11 on the dot and told them not to be late because this new mission was extreamly important. So Team 7 got ready. Haku and Kushina saw Naruto off, Sakura's parents saw her off, and Itachi and Kisame saw off Sasuke.

To the team's surprise, Kakashi was already there. This mission MUST REALLY BE IMPORTANT if the ever tardy Kakashi actually arrives early or on time. The Jōnin told his team to come into the estate, passing a few of the Hyūga guards. Everyone waved hello to them, and they waved back.

}i{ }i{

Team 8, 10, and 6(Team Gai) were there too. Sakura happily said hi to Tenten. Choji was munching on a bag of chips with Shikamaru sitting next to him. Asuma was sitting next to Kurenai. Gai was sitting next to Lee. Shino and Kiba were sitting next to Akamaru, okay, more like Kiba had an arm around Shino as they leaned against Akamaru. Ino simply latched herself onto Sasuke's arm saying something along the lines of being happy to see her future Soulmate. The only thing Sasuke did was sigh and tries to free he arm from her.

Sakura payed no mind to that and asked Teneten how she was doing on her new team. Tenten was quiet surprised by her friend's odd behavior, but she happily replied that everything was fine. Naruto, Sasuke, and Ino were very surprised by the pink-haired kunoichi's lack of reaction. Kakashi seemed to know the reason and chuckled a bit as he thought 'Oh~ so she found out Sasuke's not her Soulmate. She's taking it rather well.'

"Ano... Where are Neji and Hinata?" Lee asked the present company. Sasuke finally pulled free from Ino and said he'll look for them, since he knows the house. Naruto offered to go along with him. The Uchiha immediately refused, but Kakashi told them to look together, since they need to get along more. Sasuke reluctantly allowed Naruto to follow.

}i{ }i{

As Naruto and Sasuke walked down the hallway, looking for the two Hyūgas, the blond asked the Uchiha how he was good friends with them. Sasuke stated flatly "None of your business." Okay, Naruto saw that coming.

"Be nice, my love." Naruto heard someone whisper. That whisper came from Sasuke's direction. "What did you call me?" the blond asked the Uchiha. "Excuse me?" Sasuke stated, then added "All I said was "none of your business." I never called you anything." Naruto stuck a pinky in his ear and muttered that maybe he should get his hearing checked at his next doctors appointment. Sasuke walked ahead in a huff.

It wasn't long until Naruto lost sight of Sasuke and got lost. Naruto groaned and thought that this estate was way too big. So the blond wondered through the house until he heard the voice of the Hyūga Head. Figuring that he could help him out of this predicament, Naruto walked towards the voice. "I told you that this is for you own good," Naruto heard Hyūga Hiashi say when he got close to a sliding door and stopped. The blond heard Hinata say "But Father!" "No buts Hinata, you two NEED to learn to trust again." Hiashi stated in a serious tone.

Naruto knew he shouldn't be listening to this, but...

"Ani-sama, is right. You have to trust people outside the family and the Uchihas," Hizashi stated in the same serious tone. "There's Kisame-nii and Sensei-sama," Neji said in a tone that Naruto never heard from the Hyūga. "Kisame is technically an Uchiha and Shi-kun was Midorii's student and would be considered apart of the family," Hizashi said plainly.

'Who's Shi-kun?' Naruto innately thought.

"We know what happened eight years ago was very traumatic, but now you two have to allow others to get close," Hiashi stated. 'Traumatic? Did some real bad happen to Hinata and Neji?' Naruto couldn't help but wonder.

That was when Hizashi said "Hinata-sama, you are going to be 15 soon, you ARE going to have to take over this family one day and you are going to have to learn to trust others in order to lead our family. Neji, in your line of work you're NEED to trust others. This decision to have you two on different team is for your own good." Naruto wasn't sure what to think at the moment. All he knew was that the two antisocial Hyūgas had a very good reason to be antisocial.

The blond knocked on the wood on the sliding door, getting the Hyūgas' attention. "Ano, Hinata and Neji, are you in here? Everyone is gathered in the main area and we're waiting for you two," Naruto said. He didn't want them to know that he was easdropping on them. "Listen, I know this is you house and all, but it is rude to make all of us wait," the blond added. The sliding door opened and Naruto was greeted by the head of the Hyūga clan. "Oh, Hiashi-san, I'm sorry to bother you, but is Hinata and Neji in there?" Naruto asked politely. The man smiled and said as he opened the door more "I'm Hizashi, and yes they are." Naruto quickly apologized. He could never tell the Hyūga twins appart (ie they are identical twins).

That was when Sasuke appeared on the scene.

}i{ }i{

Naruto was the first one to enter the main area, the first thing he noticed was that Kakashi wasn't there. Sasuke walked in and asked were he was. Gai said he went to go use the restroom. Naruto muttered "Hope he didn't get lost." Hinata and Neji walked in and sat in an unoccupied space with Sasuke. The Hyūga twins were the last to walk in. "We apologized for making you all wait, time got away from us for a bit," one of the two said. "It's not too big of a deal, Hizashi-san," Naruto said with a smile. The twin who just spoke said "Naruto, I'm Hiashi." the blond blushed, apologized, and thought 'They really should wear different clothing.'

"Is everyone here?" Hizashi asked looking around. "Now we are," Kakashi said walking into the area. "Why is everyone here, Sensei-sama?" Neji asked looking at the silver haired man. Naruto knew something was off here, so he asked Neji "Ano, why are you calling Kakashi sensei-sama?" Neji glared at the blond and stated "Do NOT address Sensei-sama so casually." Kakashi sighed and said "Neji, Naruto has known me since he was a baby, it's okay for him to be casual with me. Also, please be nice to my team members." This time, Hizashi said to Kakashi "Sorry about my son, Shi-kun, he's been a bit of a mood since everyone was grouped into teams." Kakashi said it was understandable.

"Ano, why are you calling Kakashi-sensei Shi-kun and why is Neji addressing him as Sensei?" Sakura asked the adults. This was a bit confusing.

Kakashi sat down and said "Anyone remembers when I said that there was only one Dream Empath who actually had a parent who was a Dream Empath?" "Yeah, when you came to the class to talk about what Dream Empaths do. Dad scolded you for it," Naruto said, remembering the memory very well. "Well now everyone here will know that person," Kakashi said seriously. "Hold on, I thought it was suppose to be kept secret. Why are going to tell us?" Shikamaru asked in an interested tone. Kakashi then explained "Because there have been a surge of Dream Empaths disappearing from their receptive villages and the Hokage has already tripled my Anbu guards and the guards here. He wants me to continue to train Midorii-sensei's child. So, I'm going to have to ask all of you to help me with that." Tenten was the one to finally ask "Kakashi-sensei, who's this other Dream Empath that we're protecting?" Kakashi took a deep breath and said "My Dream Empath sensei's name was Hyūga Midorii,"

Hyūga?... Midorii?... ! Wait!

Naruto turned to Hinata and practically exclaimed "HINATA!? ARE YOU?!" Sasuke snapped "No you baka! Midorii-obasan is Neji's mother."

Things were quiet yet again. Choji actually stopped eating. Lee felt his heart stop.

"Neji's a..." Ino started but couldn't finish. To put it simply, everyone but Kakashi, Hizashi, Hiashi, Hinata, Sasuke, and Neji were in complete shock. "Shino, you didn't know?" Kiba asked his Soulmate, whom replied "No, I didn't..." Wow, not even Shino's heightened observational skills didn't pick up on this fact.

"I'm sorry about dropping this bomb, so to speak, but this is important and we're going to need all of your help," Kakashi said closing his visible eye and added "I'm also going to have to ask to help me with Neji's training, it's about time he actually got some field experience." Neji then said "But Sensei-sama, I already-" Kakashi interrupted by saying "Going into Sasuke's Dream Plane doesn't count as "Field Experience" Neji, you know this. You need to go into a lot more Dream Planes in order to get the experience you need." Neji went quiet.

Kurenai asked if it was a good idea to use other Genins. Kakashi replied that young Dream Empaths need to start out with people around their own age, to get the hang of things. Asuma then said "So, it's not that you want to use our teams, it the only option for Neji." Kakashi nodded and added "I also learnt that our teams were the only ones who could also act as guards as well as training partners."

Now Lee REALLY felt his heart stopped. 'This means that Neji will...' Lee gulped. Shino noticed this. "I will have to go into all of their Dream Planes..." Neji said sourly. Kakashi then smiled "Not all of them. I'm going to help Lee with his dream out of professional curtesy, right Gai?" Gai gave a toothy smile. Lee couldn't help but feel a bit relief. "At least I don't have to go into his Dream Plane," Neji snipped. "Neji," Kakashi said sternly and added "Be nice, they are going to be both your guards and training partners. You are GOING to have to trust them. Apologize to Lee." Neji reluctantly did.

Hizashi sighed and said "It's a start. And beside, Hinata-sama and Sasuke-kun will be with you." Neji mumbled something along the lines of it being one of the few good things happening. "Neji, I heard that," Kakashi said sternly. "Sorry..." Neji said out loud.

"Shi-kun, Would it be too much to ask to start this training tomorrow?" Hiashi asked the older Dream Empath, whom replied "Actually, I was just about to say that next. Minato-sensei wanted to talk to Naruto about an important matter." Gai asked "What kind of important matter would Minato-sensei tell Naruto about. No offense, but he can't keep a secret." "None taken..." Naruto mumbled, but he knew the Green Beast did have a point. "Not sure, he wouldn't tell me," Kakashi said looking up at the ceiling. Naruto had a feeling that he actually DID know.

}i{ }i{ About 15 Minutes later }i{ }i{

Everyone left for their respective homes, well Sasuke decided to stay. As Lee was heading out, Kakashi placed a hand on his shoulder and whispered so only he heard "I know you have questions, I'll come over to talk to you after I drop Naruto off at the Hokage's office." Lee nodded. He really needed to know how he was suppose to win Neji's love now. After all the Hyūga boy would never have his Soulmate Dreams, the one thing Lee was hoping for to seal his place by Neji's side.

"Come on Kakashi, what did dad want to talk to me about? I know you know," Naruto pestered his family friend. "You'll know when he tells you," was all Kakashi said during their walk.

}i{ }i{ Back at the Hyūga Estate }i{ }i{

"Come on Neji, it's not that bad," Sasuke said before adding "At least you have Hinata, Kakashi-sensei, and me." Neji sighed. Sasuke playfully nudged the other teen and said "Fine, then I won't tell you the good news then." Hinata raised a brow and asked "What kind of good news?" Sasuke smirked and said "The kind that says that Ani and Kisame-nii finally decided on names for the babies." "Really?!" both of the Hyūgas exclaimed and Sasuke nodded happily.

The Hyūga twins where nearby and asked "So, what are the names?" Hizashi asked. Sasuke chuckled nervously and said "In all honesty, Ani got the names from a book, well, more like the author of the book." Neji playfully punched Sasuke and told him to stop stalling. "Ani was reading the Art of War and he liked the name of the author..." Sasuke said. Hiashi blinked and said "Sung Tzu?" the Uchiha nodded and said with red staining his cheeks "Sung for the boy and Tzu for the girl."

"Somewhat appropriate," the Hyūga twin said at the same time.

}i{ }i{ With Naruto }i{ }i{

The blond practically bursted into the Hokage's office. Kakashi closed the door and left. Kushina was standing next to Minato. "Mom? Dad? What did you want to talk to me about?" Naruto asked in a curius tone. Minato motioned the blond to sit and said "Have a seat son, this is really important." So Naruto sat.

}i{ }i{

1) Otōto means Younger Brother in Japanese.

}i{ }i{

ZY; until next chapter.


	8. Chapter 7: Truths and Actions

ZY: Collage take up waaaaaaaaay too much free time. Well, here's the next chapter.

}i{ }i{

Dreams of Passion turned into Reality, Chapter 7; Truths and Actions.

}i{ }i{

"Soooooo, what did you want to talk to me about?" Naruto asked again. He had never seen BOTH of his parent having that serious look at the same time. Minato took a deep breath and ask his son "Do you know about the Kyūbi or the Nine-Tailed Fox Demon?" Naruto stated that he did and he said that Minato was the one to defeat the Kyūbi. The blond Genin grinned and added that he'll do something even better then his father when he becomes Hokage.

Naruto quickly noticed that both Kushina and Minato weren't smiling at his comment like they usually do. "Naruto... You need to know the truth about the fate of the Kyūbi," The Fourth Hokage stated seriously.

}i{ }i{ At The Lee Residents }i{ }i{

"Lee I know you're upset, but at the time I wasn't allowed to tell ANYONE, even if you ARE Neji's Soulmate," Kakashi said watching Lee pacing back and forth. Gai was sitting in a chair by the door. The Dream Empath asked his green clad friend to be here for this. "Is that why you told me to use my action to show him that he could trust me?" Lee nearly shouted. Kakashi nodded and said "Lee, I'm so sorry for doing that to you. But I was telling you the truth when I said that you needed each other. But, you need to show him that you're his Soulmate slowly." Lee sighed and said "Maybe I should just let Neji see my Soulmate Dreams..." Kakashi shook his head and said "I can't let you do that, Lee." The green clad teen asked why. Gai answered "Because both he and Hinata have been betrayed by people they thought they could trust." Kakashi's head snapped to Gai and asked why he had to bring that up. "Kakashi, he needs to know, and the last thing I want happening is for both of them to get hurt, especially since this effects BOTH of them," Gai stated in a serious tone. Lee couldn't hide his shock when he asked "What happened to them?" Kakashi told the teen to sit and that he'll explain everything.

}i{ }i{ At The Inuzaka Residents }i{ }i{

Shino was being attacked.

Who was attacking him? A hoard of adorable little puppies were climbing all over the Aburame taking turns licking his face. Kiba arrived on the scene to see this. The Inuzaka tried to shoo them away and telling them that the only one who would be licking Shino was him. "They are quite an energetic group," Shino stated as he adjusted his glasses. Kiba chuckled and said that puppies tend to be full of energy. Shino kissed Kiba on the cheek and said "The adult dogs put them up to it, didn't they?" The Inuzaka nodded with a sigh and said "Sorry, but the Alpha's getting up there in age and he just wants to make sure that either Tsume-nee or I continue the family line. Nee-san hasn't found anyone or had her Soulmate Dreams yet, but I have." "So they're pestering you because of it," the Aburame said softly. The dog-nin nodded.

Kiba had an idea and smiled a wild smile. Shino wasn't sure if he was going to like this or not.

}i{ }i{ At Hokage's Office }i{ }i{

Naruto was in utter shock. He just couldn't believe what he just heard from his own parents.

How... Could... How could they keep THIS kind of thing from him? This entire time?

"You sealed the... the Kyūbi... inside me?" Naruto finally got out.

Minato and Kushina nodded. The red head said "It was suppose to stay seal within me, but a masked man broke the seal while I was giving birth to you..." the Hokage finished "And the Kyūbi attack as soon as it was released, the masked man disappeared, and left us with the demon... The condition Kushina was in... She wasn't strong enough to survive the seal... I know you were just a newborn at the time, but you had your mother's blood and... There was no other choice... There were so many lives on the line... I'm sorry Naruto..."

The first thing that came to Naruto's mind was the battle on the bridge close to a week ago. The vile red chakra that emitted from him when he was beyond enraged. Hinata told him about it, he thought she was seeing things out of grief, but now...

How could his parents do this to him?

Naruto stormed out of the office.

Kushina and Minato watched him go. They wanted to fallow their son, they really did, but they knew Naruto needed some time to himself.

}i{ }i{ At the Lee Residents }i{ }i{

"Oh Kami... No wonder..." Lee said covering half his face with his hand. Kakashi was right, the he couldn't just show Neji his Soulmate Dreams to win him over now. Not with the way things are.

"Lee... You have to go slow with Neji, slowly show him that he can trust you as a teammate, then friend, and finally as his Soulmate. You can heal him. Hinata's damaged in the same way, I'm hoping that you and her team can help heal her too," Kakashi said placing a hand on Lee's shoulder. "Sasuke... Really never left their side for that entire time..." Lee mumbled under his breath. Gai nodded. "How am I suppose to get close to Neji when he won't let me?" Lee asked, not really sure what to think. "Small steps, Lee, small steps. I'll help you with some of those steps," Kakashi said with a smile. Lee was happy for any help he could get.

"I won't give up," Lee said with a serious look in his eyes. "That's what we're hoping for you to say," Gai said happily.

}i{ }i{ With Naruto }i{ }i{

He just ran. He didn't care where he was running to, he just needed to get away. So, by the time Naruto was out of breath he was standing in front of the Ninja Academy.

Iruka was walking out when he saw his former student out of breath. "Naruto? What's wrong?" Iruka asked Naruto as he walked up to him. The blond looked up at the teacher with tears in his eyes, it was so very obvious something was wrong. "Naruto, how's about we talk about what's on your mind in my office, I have a couple of instant ramen there," Iruka said with a small smile, he knew the blond needed someone to talk to.

}i{ }i{ At Konohagakure General Hospital }i{ }i{

A little baby was happily gripping his teeny tiny hand around a pinky finger, cooing with joy.

"Looks like someone's happy to see the two of you," said a passing nurse. Kiba looked up from the crib, the baby still had a grip on the dog-nin's pinky, and asked "Has anyone offered to take him in?" Shino picked up the little life and cradled him in his arms.

"Giiiii gooo gaaa," the little baby giggled happily. He didn't know what the people were talking about, but he was happy that Red Cheeks (Kiba) and Gwasses (Glasses = Shino) were here.

The nurse shook her head and said "No, sorry. Poor thing still doesn't have a official name, we've been calling him Mori no Akachan." "Forest Baby..." Shino said softly, holding the infant close. "I know, probably not the best thing to give to the little guy, but we couldn't use Nanashi (1). We already have three unidentified bodies here, so it wouldn't be appropriate to give to a baby," The nurse said with sad smile.

"Ziv..." Shino said letting the baby suck on his finger. "Pardon?" the nurse asked. "Can we call him Ziv?" The bug-nin stated in a soft voice. Kiba wrapped an arm around Shino and said "So, not a bad idea huh." The bug-nin nodded and said "Yes, your family might be alright with it, but..." The dog-nin stated "He's young enough, so maybe your dad'll be good with this little fella."

"Oh? Are you planing on adopting him?" the nurse asked the duo, both of whom nodded.

The baby, now named Ziv, cooed happily.

}i{ }i{ At The Ninja Academy }i{ }i{

Iruka placed a cup of heated instant ramen in front of Naruto as he sat down with his own cup. "Alright, Naruto, tell me what's wrong," Iruka said with a soft smile.

"My parents... Have been... Keeping a REALLY big secret from me... For my entire life," Naruto finally said, just staring at the cup. "How big?" Iruka asked. "Bigger then the village," the blond said sadly, he didn't want to tell his teacher about the Kyūbi. Iruka lost both of his parents in the Kyūbi attack all those years ago and Naruto REALLY didn't want Iruka to hate him.

"Was there at least a good reason for keeping it a secret?" Iruka asked the blond teen. "Yeah..." Naruto said softly. Now the teacher KNEW that something was wrong. "Naruto..." Iruka muttered before saying "I'm sure your parents kept this a secret for a reason." Naruto casted his eyes to the side and said "I know... But it still hurts..." "Do they love you?" Iruka asked suddenly. Naruto blinked in confusion. "Do your parents love you?" the teacher asked, making his point clearer. This made Naruto think about all of the things his parents did.

His mother bandaging his arm when he was six, after he scrapped it.

His father teaching him how to throw a kuni knife when he was seven.

His parents throwing him a surprised birthday party when he turned eight.

Minato scolding a 9-year-old Naruto for something.

Kushina making her special ramen for her Soulmate and son.

There were no indication that his parents showed any signs of regret or hate in any of Naruto's memories, just the love and care that any parent can give their child.

"They... Do love me..." Naruto stated in a bit of shock. Iruka smiled softly and said "You sound as if you don't believe your own words." "Thanks Iruka-sensei," Naruto said softly before digging into the ramen. The teacher was happy to help.

}i{ }i{ At Konohagakure General Hospital }i{ }i{

Kiba and Shino just signed the final paper. Now, Ziv was officially their son.

The little baby giggled happily.

}i{ }i{

Iruka walked Naruto home, where his parents were waiting for him. Minato and Kushina immediately embraced their son. They needed to finish their talk with Naruto, but that can wait. Iruka left with a smile, happy that the family was back together.

}i{ }i{ The Next Day, at the Hyūga Estate }i{ }i{

Choji and Ino (okay, mostly Ino) were cooing at little baby Ziv. Shino really wanted them to stop. Naruto looked to Kiba and asked why they actually adopted the baby. Kiba happily grinned and said "There were plenty of reasons why we did, but the main one was to give the little guy a name and home." Ziv giggled when Choji made a funny face. "Ano, does Shino's dad know about this?" Naruto asked, knowing full well that the pair already told the Inuzakas. Kiba shook his head and said "He's currently on a mission in another village, so he doesn't know yet." The blond didn't know the older Aburame all that well, so he wasn't sure if he'd approve of the adoption.

Kakashi clapped his hands, getting the four teams' attention. "Alright everyone, shall we get started?" Gai stated happily, looking over the Genins. The Green Beast spotted the baby and immediately raced over to the tiny life. "Awwwww, aren't you a cute wittle thing," Gai stated as he playfully tickling Ziv's chin. The baby started crying and Shino quickly scooted away from the Jōnin and tried to calm Ziv down. Kiba was next to Shino in two seconds flat, trying to help calm the baby. Asuma chuckled and said "Gai, I think you shouldn't be near the little fella anytime soon if you're going to scare him." Gai sighed in saddness. Kurenai chuckled a bit.

Kakashi then said to the rest of the teams "We're going to practice our team formation, as well as protecting our Dream Emaths. So who wants to volunteer to be Neji's client? And Sasuke, Hinata, you two are playing the defense, so don't even volunteer." Neji didn't seem too thrilled with that. Shikamaru volunteered, saying something alongs that line of the whole thing being a drag.

A Hyūga servant brought out two pillows for Neji and Shikamaru to sit on. The young Dream Empath thanked the servant, whom bowed and left.

"Ok, lets begin," Asuma said with a smile.

Ziv finally stopped crying. Kiba placed him in a baby carrier (which was attached to a baby stroller), covered him in a blanket, and gave him a pacifier to suck on. Shino adjusted the covering so that the sunlight wasn't in Ziv's eyes. Akamaru plopped down next to the stroller, he wanted to make sure nothing happened to this new "puppy" and the new heir to the Inuzaka clan.

}i{ }i{ Two and a Half Hours Later }i{ }i{

Training was certainly sweat inducing. Okay, Neji wasn't really sweating, but he was exhausted. He entered Shikamaru, Choji, and Kiba's Dream Plane, not at the same time but one after the other. From what Kakashi explained, Dream Empaths use their chakra to enter someone's Dream Plane and that they also use their chakra to stay in as long as they need. That explains why Neji seemed exhausted despite not sweating.

"Lee would you mind getting everyone something to drink? Milk preferably," Kakashi asked the teen, whom said sure and headed into the estate (after switching his shoes for slippers). Sasuke sat down and allowed Neji to rest his head on his shoulder. The male Hyūga wasn't use to going into so many Dream Planes. "Is he alright?" Ino asked when she noticed Neji almost sleeping on the Uchiha. "I guess three's his limit," Kakashi said as he placed a hand on the Hyūga heir's shoulder, then added "Hinata, make sure he eats something full of protein later today and make sure he starts eating at least a cup of yogurt for breakfast starting tomorrow. If he doesn't he'll start getting headaches." Hinata nodded, said she'll make sure he does, and asked "Do you know when his Dream Defense (2) will awaken?" Kakashi sighed and answered "The only thing I can say is, "It'll awaken when it's NEEDED". Right now it's not needed."

"Dream Defense?" Naruto questioned.

"It's basically a Dream Empath's self-defense, but a Dream Empath can't use it when they're in someone elses Dream Plane. Unfortunately, it doesn't awaken along side the Empath ability. It'll only awaken when it is truly needed," Kakashi explained, then added sadly "Mine... Awoke... *places left hand over his covered eye, the one with the Sharingan* An hour before I got my Sharingan... When I really did need it... I just wish... I could've..." Gai placed a hand on the Dream Empath's shoulder. The Green Beast knew exactly what he was remembering. "Ano... What is your Dream Defense?" Sakura asked the older Dream Empath. "It'll be easier to show you then tell you," Kakashi said walking to the center of the training ground, then asked "Who would like to volunteer to be my attackers?" Naruo did, mostly because he was curious. Choji was also curious, so he volunteered. Tenten volunteered as well.

Shino and Kiba were currently checking on baby Ziv, whom was fast alseep in the carrier with the pacifier still in his mouth. Neji's eye opened slightly, he wanted see this even if he couldn't lift his head at the moment. Because of that Sasuke stayed where he was, but he did say "Nabi-chan, now's not a good time to "kiil" me, if you hadn't notice Neji isn't going to be moving anytime soon. Let him rest." Hinata's younger sister, Hanabi, was standing behind the Uchiha with a kuni in hand ready to strike. "Nabi-chan, you can try to "kill" me when I'm not being used as a pillow," Sasuke said as the youngest Hyūga plopped down next to him and said "You're not playing fair." Hinata lead against the porch pillar and said "Hanabi, Sasuke let Neji used his shoulder because he was tired, not to prevent you from "assassinate" him." Neji was too tired to agree with the heir. "Please tell me you're not really going to kill Sasuke," Sakura asked the youngest Hyūga nervously. "Naaah, she's not actually going to kill him," Hinata said with a chuckle before adding "It's a bit of a deal to make Hanabi keep up her training." Hanabi nodded happily and said "If I can land a "killing blow" on Sasuke-nii *holds up the kuni, which turns out to be a toy* with this, he'll be my loyal servant." Sakura couldn't help but think it was a bit unrealistic.

"You're not hoping he's your Soulmate, are you?" Ino couldn't help but ask, the last thing she needed was competition from a Hyūga. Hanabi blinked in confusion, then cringed a bit when she realized what the platinum blond was asking, and said "Eeeeeeeewwwwwww gross, no way. Sasuke-nii's practically like an older brother to me. Plus, he already had his Soulmate Dream." Ino squeaked in surprised. "Nabi-chan, you wanna watch Kakashi-sensei fight?" Sasuke said quickly, trying to get the youngest Hyūga off the topic so the blond girl couldn't ask anymore questions. Looked like it worked, Hanabi quickly focused on the fight.

"Alright you three, come at me with all you got," Kakashi said with a smiling eye. Naruto, Tenten, and Choji blinked in confusion and said in unison "Really?" The silver haired man nodded and said "Yup, if you want me to show you my Dream Defense, you have to actually strike to kill." The trio wasn't really sure they wanted to. Kakashi stated that his Dream Defense won't kill them.

Naruto summoned ten clones, Tenten summoned a javelin from a scroll, and Choji turned into a giant ball. All three launched their attack simultaneously.

Hanabi's eyes lit up at the scene. Sakura couldn't help but note the personality difference between the Hyūga sisters.

Kakashi took a deep breath.

Suddenly, Naruto's clones were poofed, like they were killed, Chijo bounced out of his ball form, and Tenten tripped over her own feet. All three slammed into one another and fell to the ground, literally right at the silver haired Jōnin's feet.

What happened?

Naruto looked up at Kakashi, whom looked like he had a daydream-like look in his visible eye. "My Dream Defense allows me to negate any and all types of abilities," Kakashi said as he helped the three to his feet. Gai happily jide in a "We can basically call it a "Null-and-Void" type of ability." This was soooooo wicked cool!

Wait a minute...

"Any particular reason why you didn't use this when you fought against Zabuza?" Naruto asked as soon as he realized what could have happened. Kakashi raised his visible brow, his eye was back to normal by this time, and said "And prevent you and Sasuke for collaborating with one another and getting over your "argument"? Plus Dream Defense is a bit of a cheap trick in a fight and I like to use it when it's completely nessasary." Naruto realized that his family friend was right, about him and Sasuke working together. If Kakashi used his Dream Defense during his fight against Zabuza, then the blond and the Uchiha would still be angry at each other (ok more of Sasuke still being mad at Naruto).

Sasuke was thinking the exact same thing at Naruto when Lee and two Hyūga servants came out with ten glasses each on a tray. The green clad teen noticed Neji resting his head on the Uchiha's shoulder. Lee knew they were friends, but he couldn't help but feel a tinge of jealousy tug at him. "Thirsty anyone?" the green clad teen asked the Hyūgas and Uchiha before adding innocently "Is Neji alright?" Sasuke nodded and said "He's fine, but I think he fell asleep." Lee placed the tray he was holding on the wooden floor and said "You mind if I move him off your shoulder for you? I am pretty sure your shoulder is numb." The Uchiha's eyes narrowed and said flatly "My shoulder is fine."

"Sasuke, Hinata, you two are teaming up with Shino for this formation," Kakashi stated towards the small group before adding "Take a drink and let Lee take care of Neji." Neither Hinata nor Sasuke liked this. "Need I remind the two that you DO need to expand your trust circle? Lee's trustworthy, he's not going to hurt Neji," Kakashi said with a stern look in his visible eye, then said to Lee "Just let Neji sleep, alright. If he wakes up, make sure he drinks something." Lee nodded as he handed Hinata and Sasuke a glass, both took the cups and downed the contents and handed them back to the green clad teen, whom place them back on the tray. Lee carefully moved the sleeping Hyūga off the Uchiha's shoulder and cradled Neji in his arms. Sasuke was still a bit wiry of the green clad teen's intentions, but he allowed it.

Both Hinata and Sasuke walked to the training grounds, the Uchiha rotated his shoulder (the one Neji was resting on), trying to get the blood flowing again. Okay, so Lee was right about his shoulder going numb, but he wasn't going to admit it. Sakura and Ino followed the two.

Hanabi stared at Lee in a way that made him VERY uncomfortable. "I'm not going to hurt him! I swear!" Lee stuttered out, making sure he wasn't squeezing Neji, whom was still asleep in his arms. "You like Neji-nii, don't you," Hanabi said seriously. "Huh?" Lee blinked in confusion, that was when the youngest Hyūga repeated "You LIKE like Neji-nii." Lee's eyes softened and said "Of coarse I do, he's my teammate." The green clad teen knew exactly what she meant, but he decided not to let her know that he knew, not yet anyway. Hanabi puffed her cheeks and said "Not THAT kind of "like" Lee." The green clad teen raised a brow in pretend curiosity and asked in that same pretend tone (but Hanabi wasn't aware of this) "Then what kind of "like" do you mean?" "Forget it," Hanabi said as she folded her arms and thought 'He's waaaaaaaay to dense.' The green clad teen moved the sleeping Hyūga so he was in his lap. Neji snuggled closer to Lee, getting into a more comfortable position, and smiled. The Taijutsu user smiled as well and let the sleeping Hyūga be. Hanabi saw this and thought 'Yup, he totally likes Neji-nii.' Shino noticed that too.

}i{ }i{ To Be Continued... }i{ }i{

1) Nanashi basically means Nameless in Japanese.

2) Dream Defenses are abilities unique to Dream Empaths are used to defend themselves from ninjas or any other type of threat. What the Dream Defense does varies from Empath to Empath.

}i{ }i{

ZY: Comment would be nice.


	9. Chapter 8: Training

ZY: Sorry for the long wait, but collage has REALLY been eating up my free time. Anyway, enjoy.

}i{ }i{

Dreams of Passion turned into Reality, Chapter 8: Training.

}i{ }i{

It's been nearly three days since Team 7, 6, 8, and 10 started training together and learnt that Neji was a Dream Empath. Everyone was improving rather well.

Shikamaru could now hold his shadows for 15 minutes.

Sasuke could activate his Sharingans whenever he wanted.

Hinata was actually getting better with tag-teams (The ones without Sasuke and Neji) and started to get really get along with her teammates; although, it was slow progress.

Choji was able to last longer in fights.

Kiba was able to all kinds of combos with Akamaru.

Shino's hand-to-hand combat skill improved.

Neji could now go into three different Dream Planes without getting tired, he hasn't quiet reached the stage were he could be in two Dream Planes at once. Like his cousin, he was slowly getting closer to his teammates.

Lee was becoming more skilled with weaponry and he was slowly but surely getting closer to Neji. The green clad teen was also slowly earning Hinata's trust. All were REALLY good. Although, Sasuke was still a bit suspicious on Lee's intentions.

Tenten was able to hit four targets at once.

Naruto had more control of his chakra, thus more control of his attacks.

Sakura could punch a hole in solid stones, with her bare fists. This actually did impressed Susuke.

"Thanks Sasuke, I've really been practicing with focusing my chakra to increase my strength," Sakura stated happily as she wiped some sweat off her brow. Now that she has completely gotten over her crush on Sasuke, her focus has been on her training. Her arms were now pretty toned, not completely muscled but you could tell she WAS indeed training. Yeah, she was bummed that Sasuke wasn't her Soulmate, but that didn't mean that she couldn't be his teammate and friend. Sakura had also been getting along great with Naruto, Hinata, and Neji. Getting along with the Hyūgas actually surprised Sakura.

Ino of course was pissed that the Uchiha was paying attention to the pinkette rather then her. Okay, so she hasn't really improved her skills all that much, but still. Ino did wonder why Sakura's behavior towards Sasuke changed. Two and a half weeks ago, the pinkette had just as big of a crush on the Uchiha as the platinum blond, and now a week ago Sakura up and ignored Ino's actions to get Sasuke's attention. The two girls always bickered when it came to the younger Uchiha, but now...

Ino really couldn't understand the sudden change in Sakura's behavior, okay, she DID think for a short while that pinkette gave up on winning Sasuke's affection but the platinum blond knew she would NEVER give up on anything. 'So what the hell's going on with her?' Ino thought as she watched Sakura show Sasuke how to focus his chakra. That was when it hit Ino when she thought 'Come to think of it... A couple of days ago Hanabi DID mention that Sasuke already had his Soulmate Dreams! So... Does Sakura already know who his Soulmate is?'

"Ano, Neji..." Naruto asked the sitting Hyūga nervously, okay not really nervous but... "Restroom?" Neji stated rather then asked. The blond nodded. The reason Naruto was asking was because he needed someone to show him were the toilets were in the maze-like Hyūga estate and the last thing the Hokage's son wanted was to not be able to find the bathroom in time. Neji stood up and told the blond to follow him closely as they walked into the estate.

'Why the hell would the Hyūgas make their house like a maze?' Naruto asked himself, but then he realized the reason why.

}i{ }i{

After Naruto relieved himself, he washed his hands, and left the restroom. The blond looked around, Neji wasn't there... The blond called the Hyūga, but no answer. Crap, how was he going to find his way out now?

}i{ }i{

After two minutes of trying to find an exit, Naruto found an interesting room. Some kind photo room. The blond walked in.

Naruto looked around the room, he couldn't help put be amazed. There had to be around twenty or thirty beautiful pictures hung around the room. The subject of half of the images were birds. The pictures were beautifully taken. 'Hold on...' Naruto thought as he took a closer look at a few of the pictures. That was when the blond realized that the pictures weren't photos taken by a camera, they were paintings! 'Whoa... Who painted these? They're amazing,' Naruto couldn't help but wonder as he looked at an image of a beautifully detailed white crane in a winter setting.

Naruto noticed two sketchbooks on a table. 'Well... It wouldn't hurt to take a peek,' the blond thought when he picked up one of the pad and started looking through it. Most of the drawings were of birds or a Hyūga family member. When Naruto was finished looking through the first he picked up the second sketchbook.

Only one page had an image on it.

"Sasuke's Soulmate?" Naruto muttered as he read the words at the top of the page as he looked at image. 'Wait a minute! Oh Kami! This Neji's Dream Empath sketchbook!' the blond nearly had his heart stop, then he looked at the date on the image. 'July 30... That's exactly seven days after Sasuke's 15th birthday... So his Soulmate Dreams started on his birthday...' Naruto thought as he wondered who this person in the picture was.

"Should I shout at you for being nosey, or should I let your parents when I tell them this?" stated a voice from the doorway and causing Naruto to jump out of his skin.

It was Hyūga Neji, with a VERY peeved look on his face.

"What the hell are you doing in my studio, looking through my stuff?" Neji snapped at the blond, whom stuttered out "I was looking for you and... Wait, this is your studio?" The annoyed male Hyūga nodded. "Did...you make all of these paintings?" Naruto asked looking at all of the paintings. "Yes, I did. Now, answer my question," Neji snapped in an annoyed tone. Naruto explained that he didn't see the Hyūga when he finished using the bathroom, so he tried to find him but found this studio instead.

The moment Neji saw that Naruto had HIS OPEN Dream Empath Sketchbook, immediately snatched it away from him, and hissed out "Say any word to ANYONE about what you saw in here *indicates the sketchbook* and I WILL paralyze you permanently. I don't care if you ARE the Hokage's son, you DO NOT just look through a Dream Empath's Sketchbook without their permission!" Naruto quickly apologized for his actions and stated in a stuttered tone that he won't tell anyone about it. "With that big mouth of yours, I'd suggest you'd start picking out your wheelchair NOW," Neji hissed. "I WON'T tell anyone I swear! I'm getting better at keeping my mouth shut!" Naruto nearly shouted. The Hyūga walked up to the blond and hissed "You'd better be." Neji grabbed Naruto's arm and hauled him out of his studio.

}i{ }i{

As the two walked through the estate, Naruto asked how long Neji's been painting. "Ever since Sensei-sama taught me how to paint," Neji said with a small smile. "Kakashi taught you? I knew he drew, but I didn't know he painted. I've been to his house plenty of times and I've never seen him use or own any type of painting supplies," Naruto stated as he folded his arms. "Sensei-sama prefers to use pencil when he draws, but he knows how to paint though," the Hyūga stated plainly.

"I never knew... Guess I really didn't know Kakashi as well as I thought, despite knowing him my whole life..." Naruto muttered as he looked at the ground. Neji looked over his shoulder to see the blond and said "Is... Something else on your mind? I'm pretty sure it's not just about Sensei-sama."

Naruto finally looked at Neji and said "Since I learnt something I shouldn't have from you... How about I tell you something about me that no one else knows about... You know, to keep each other in check." Neji shook his head and said "I don't think that's the same thing." "Neji, please!" the blond stated softly, then added "I need to tell someone this! I've wanted to ever since I learnt it, but... I need it to be someone who I know can keep a this kind of secret." Neji was quiet, he's never seen Naruto like this. "Dream Empaths are notorious for keeping a lid on things, but I don't think I could tell Kakashi about this... So... Can I tell you?" the blond stated as his blue eyes looked at the Hyūga right in the eyes.

"Fine," Neji stated after what seemed like forever, but he did add "You can tell me, I won't tell anyone, but you better not say ANYTHING about Sasuke's Soulmate in return, alright." Naruto nodded.

}i{ }i{

"Hello everyone," Itachi and Kisame said when they saw all of the teams. Haku was with them.

Hinata smiled and said "Itachi-nii, Kisame-nii! Happy Anniversary!" The two ninjas smiled and thanked the heir. "It's your anniversary?" Sakura asked the two. Kisame smiled and stated "Yup, five years now." Itachi then asked "Any reason why neither of use were allowed to come in through the main entrance?" "Oh, sorry. We're doing some work in that area and some of the stuff that's being used gives off fumes. We don't want either of you to breath it in by accident," Hinata said calmly with a smile. Itachi rubbed his swelling stomach and stated "We understand, so no worries."

"Soooo, when't the due date?" Teneten asked as she saw Kiba take Ziv out of the carrier and gave him a bottle. "The doc said in about three-four months," Kisame stated remembering what Itachi told him from his last appointment. Teneten smiled and said "The baby's going to be adorable." "Babies. Plural," Itachi stated with a smile.

"REALLY?!" shouted all but Hinata, Hanabi, Sasuke, and Shino.

Kakashi chuckled and asked about the names of the little ones. "Sung for the boy and Tzu for the girl," Itachi stated as he leaned against Kisame a bit. The Dream Empath closed his eyes for a bit and said "Aren't they the happy pair. I can already sense that their dreams are images of their parents, uncle, and the Hyūgas. So, someone's been been using that advise I gave them." Itachi couldn't help but smile and asked "Speaking of which, where is the Dream Empath in-training?"

}i{ }i{

Neji's face was pale and his mouth was agape when he stuttered out "You...you're..." "Yeah... I know. Guess you can only imagine how I feel," Naruto stated sadly. "Then that... Then that vile chakra Hinata-sama saw on the bridge was..." Neji practically choked out. The blond nodded and said "Yeah, it was the Kyūbi's chakra... From what my parents told me, the seal weakens when I'm enraged... The Third Hokage knows about it and two or three others. I don't know who they are, but I know you're one of the few who now know..." Neji was quiet for a good two minutes before he said "I... I don't know what to say. I really don't." "Don't say anything, please, you promised," Naruto stated sadly. The Hyūga nodded and said "I won't, not just as a Dream Empath..."

"Thank you Neji. I mean it," Naruto said with a small smile. Neji nodded and stated with a REALLY small smile "And remember, not a word about Sasuke's Soulmate." Naruto nodded.

}i{ }i{

"Sure Sasuke, you can leave early. I since today's a special day and all for your family," Kakashi said with a smiling eye. Sasuke smiled, said "Thank you Kakashi-sensei," and started heading off with Itachi and Kisame. "We'll see you later," Hinata stated happily as Hanabi waved them off.

Sasuke had the day already planed for his brother and brother-in-law's anniversary.

}i{ }i{

Neji and Naruto came out of the estate five minutes later. "Where's Sasuke?" the male Hyūga asked as soon as he noticed that his friend was missing. "Itachi-nii and Kisame-nii came to pick him up for their anniversary," Hinata told her cousin. Neji smiled, everything was going according to plane.

"Haku! How've you been?" Naruto asked as soon as he spotted the former water-nin. Haku smiled and said "I'm doing fine. I'm officially a citizen of Kohanagukure." The blond was positively ecstatic and he hugged the ice-nin. "But, I am going to have to wait a year or two before I can apply to be a Shinobi," Haku stated as soon as he got out of Naruto's grip. The blond grinned and stated that he couldn't wait. Naruto was glad Haku was doing well.

Haku decided to join in the training. Figured that he's keep up his abilities so he'd be ready for his aplication to be a ninja of Konohagakure.

}i{ }i{

By the end of the day, everyone was close to being exhausted (minus Hinata and Neji).

Right now, Shino was feeding Ziv. The infant was happily sucking on the bottle. "He looks like he's doing well," Haku stated when he saw this. The bug-nin nodded as the dog-nin said with a smile "Yup, and he's already showing an interest in dogs." "And some bugs," Shino stated softly. With that wild grin on his face, Kiba said "Of coarse, he's our kid." Little Ziv finished with the bottle and snuggled in Shino's arms. The bug-nin placed the bottle in the baby bag and the dog-nin burped the little baby. The moment baby Ziv saw Haku, he reached out towards the ice-nin.

"Oh? You want Haku-ojisan to hold you?" Kiba asked the baby, whom was still reaching out towards the ice-nin in question. The dog-nin looked at Haku and asked him if he knew how to hold a baby. "A little bit," the ice-nin said softly. Kiba showed Haku how to properly hold little Ziv, before finally carefully handing the infant over to the ice-nin. As soon as Ziv was comfortably resting against Haku's chest, he gripped one of the ice-nin's long bangs. The infant didn't pull or yank the hair, just kept a good grip on the hair and cooed happily as his dark eyes lit up. "He seems to like you for some reason," Naruto said when he saw this.

Ziv yawned and fell asleep, happily snuggled against Haku's chest. Kiba chuckled and said "Looks like we found a babysitter, ne, Shino." The bug-nin nodded. The ice-nin couldn't help but smile as he watched the little life sleep in his arms. It made Haku wonder what could've happened if Zabuza still lived.

Gai was kind of moping a bit. He'd try to hold little Ziv a number of times, each time the baby cried. Gai actually did looked up how to hold a baby, so he knew he was doing it right, but Ziv still didn't like him.

Kakashi placed a hand on the green beast's shoulder and said "It's alright, Gai. Maybe Ziv just doesn't like the colour green right now." The green beast smiled softly and said "I guess." The older Dream Empath smiled and said "I'm sure when you have a baby of your own, I'm sure it'll never want you to put'm down." Gai blushed and said "I guess you may be right, but I haven't had my Soulmate Dreams yet." "Don't worry, you will and I'll help you when you do," Kakashi said happily. Gai knew his rival was telling the truth.

}i{ }i{

The senseis sent everyone home for the night. Okay, well, Team 7 went home with Kakashi since they had an ongoing mission to protect the Dream Empath. Sasuke would meet them at Kakashi's home. The Hyūgas were already at their homes, so...

Ino unlocked the door to the Yamanaka residents and walked in.

"Inoko, (1) is that you?" someone asked from the kitchen as Ino walked in and said "I thought I told you to stop calling me that!"

With a smirk, a gloved hand placed a plate of curry on the table and said "If I recall correctly, you're still a little girl (1)." "I'm 15! I'm old enough to have my Soulmate Dreams!" Ino snapped as she sat in front of the curry. "But, you have yet to have your Soulmate Dreams," a tall man (6ft 4inch / 1.9 meters) with dark eyes and scars running along his face said with a smirk.

Curious to know why Morino Ibiki is in the Yamanaka household? Well... Okay, okay, Ibiki and Inoichi are Soulmates... Yeah, Inoichi got his Soulmate Dreams later in life (long after he married Ino's mother, had Ino, and lost his wife in the Kyūbi attack. Don't get the Yamanaka Head wrong, he still loves his late wife, he always will, but he did have to move on). They got hitched 7 years ago... Even if there was an eleven year age difference.

To be fair, Ino's still adjusting to Ibiki being her Papa.

"Where's Otou-san?" Ino asked before shoving a spoonful of curry into her mouth. "With the Higher-Ups and other Family Heads. The Chûnin Exams are coming up and all of them are going over potential Genin applicants," Ibiki stated calmly as he sat at the table.

Ino nearly choked. "ALREADY?!" the blond nearly shouted. Ibiki nodded as if his step-daughter wasn't screaming. Ino sighed and said "Good thing my teams not applying to those Exams, since we just became Genins and all."

Ibiki could really clean up in poker, he had a amazing poker face. He knew for a fact that Ino's team was one of the Genin teams that was up for consideration. 'Should I tell her? No, it's not official yet, so I can't. I also can't tell her who the examiners are either,' Ibiki thought as he watched Ino eat her curry (in a way a father does to make sure his little girl eats, not in a creepy way!).

}i{ }i{

Sasuke walked into the Hatake household with a small smile on his face. Itachi's and Kisame's Anniversary Dinner was a complete success. The Hyūgas were able to deliver their anniversary presents at the Uchiha residence while they were out at dinner, just as Sasuke planed.

And when the three returned home... Sasuke couldn't help but smile happily now. The look on the older Uchiha's and water-nin's face was perfect, they were sooooooooooooooooooo happy! Kami, Sasuke couldn't wait to have those kinds of moments with his Soulmate in the future!

"Sasuke, is that you?" Kakashi called from the kitchen snapping the Uchiha out of his blissful thoughts. "Yeah, it's me," Sasuke said as he walked into the kitchen, where he saw Kakashi, Naruto, and Sakura.

"So, how was the Anniversary?" Naruto asked Sasuke with a cheeky smile. "Not that it's any of your business, but it was perfect," the raven haired teen stated as he walked out of the kitchen and added "I already ate dinner, so I'm just going to get ready for bed." "Alright, but we're going to play some game after dinner so you might want to join us," Kakashi said with a smiling eye.

Sasuke said "Alright," just as he entered his room.

}i{ }i{

"The teams for Konohagakure have been chosen for the Chûnin Exams," Minato said to all of the Higher-Ups and Promenade Family Heads.

}i{ }i{

1) The ending syllable "Ko" basically means "Child" and is usually at the end of some of the girl's names in Japanese. Ie, Yukiko, Hanako, Keiko.

So, What Ibiki means in the second sentence is that he calls Ino Inoko, because she still thought of as a child in the Yamanaka household.

}i{ }i{

ZY: Until next chapter. Reviews would be nice.


	10. Chapter 9: Until the Exams

Dreams of Passion turned into Reality, Chapter 9; Until the Exams.

}i{ }i{

Kurenai's Team, Asuma's Team, Gai's Team, and Kakashi's team were at the Hyūga Estate. All of them had just learnt that they will be participating in the upcoming Chûnin Exams. Which will start in four days.

Kakashi was telling everyone that while they should try to pass the Chûnin Exams, they MUST also protect Neji at all cost, since he's a Dream Empath.

"Sensei-sama, I do not need any protection. I am perfectly capable of defending myself, besides I'm not going in anyone's Dream Plain during the Chûnin Exam," Neji stated sternly. He was pretty peeved because his sensei was, somewhat, treating him like a small child.

Kakashi sighed and said "That may be true, but you are my protégé and the one who will be taking my place as the Dream Empath of Konohagakure one day. I'm also well aware that there are people who would do anything to get a Dream Empath, and events like the Chûnin Exams are perfect times for these people to strike." Neji eyed the ground.

Naruto clenched his fist. He remembers Bridge Mission all to clearly. How that Gatō used to villagers as bait to lure Kakashi, the pain his sensei was in, and especially the aftermath. Haku lost his most precious person in the world because of that rotten bastard.

Asuma told all of the Genins to basically train their asses off.

"Asuma-senei! Watch the language! There's a baby present," Kiba stated as he rocked the stroller. Ziv was sleeping peacefully in the stroller, completely unaware of the foul word.

Asuma rubbed the back of his head and said "Sorry."

Kurenai glanced at the dog-nin and bug-nin and said "I understand that the two of you are new parents and all, but you can leave Ziv with a family member while you train."

"Can't. Ma's training some of the pups that are of age, Sis is real busy at her veterinary clinic, and Shibi's still on that mission so he's not home," Kiba said when he stopped rocking the stroller. Shino added that Haku was currently applying to be an advance student at the Ninja Academy.

"Would some of the older dogs watch Ziv?" Ino asked the two new parents. She thought that it was a good idea. "No," Kiba and Shino stated at the same time. A little too quickly according to anyone's opinion. Sakura raised a brow when Kiba said "Don't ask."

"Anyway," Gai said with a small smile before adding "Shall we start training?" Everyone agreed to that. Baby Ziv rolled his head to one side as he continued to sleep.

}i{ }i{

After about an hour of training, everyone heard baby Ziv cooing happily. Everyone turned to the stroller.

An older version of Shino was cradling the cooing baby in his arms.

"Father!" Shino said at the same time Kiba said "Shibi-san!"

Aburame Shibi looked up at the other ninjas and said "Some of the Shinobis at the Mission Hall told me that you took in this little one in when I got there. So I had to see the child for myself."

"You're... Not upset that we adopted him?" Shino said wirily.

Shibi shook his head and said "No, it was your choice to do so. Besides, this little one has a good amout of chakra, so implanting a Kikaichū hive in him shouldn't be much of a problem when he's older." Ziv happily cooed as he reached up and grabbed Shibi's oversized collar.

"Sooo," Kiba started, then said "You wouldn't mind watching him when we're taking the Chûnin Exams?"

"Not at all. In fact, it gives me time to bond with this little one," Shibi said as he rocked his new grandson, whom was giggling happily.

Well, that's one thing not to worry about during the Exams.

}i{ }i{ Two Days Later }i{ }i{

Naruto was babysitting, or rather, watching Sarutobi Hiruzen's grandson, Sarutobi Konohamaru, and his team. Their sensei had the day off and the former 3rd Hokage asked the 4th Hokage's son to watch his grandson's team in the meantime, with a good pay.

Konohamaru, Udon, and Moegi were practicing some of their basic jutsu as Naruto watched them, making sure they were actually doing their jutsus. Things were fine until Konohamaru missed his target and the kuni he was throwing flew off into a semi wooded area.

Well... This is why they're practicing...

Konohamaru was about to go after the kuni when two strangers walked up to the group with the kuni in hand. Based on the fact that the two had headbands that stated that they were from the Sunagakure area, Naruto figured that they were here for the Chûnin Exams.

"Sorry," Konohamaru said with a dusting of red on his cheeks.

The one in black tossed the kuni back at Konohamaru, whom caught it pretty easily, and said "Next time, practice away from people. Unless you want that kuni to actually to go into YOUR neck."

Naruto then snapped at the duo "Oi, that was uncalled for! He's only a student ninja!"

The Sunagakure in black scoffed and stated "Whatever." The blond girl looked at Naruto and ask "Aren't you the son of the current Hokage?" Naruto folded his arms and stated "I am, what about it?"

The blond girl tugged on the guy in black's arm and said "Kankurō, let it go. We don't need to get on Konoha's bad side right now, beside's we're guests here." The teen in black huffed and said "Seriously, Temari?" The blond waked the war-painted teen in the head and dragged him off.

Naruto watched them head off. The blond figured he'd need to keep an eye on them.

}i{ }i{ Two Hour Later }i{ }i{

Naruto was walking Konohamaru, Udon, and Moegi into Konoha General Hospital to meet a classmate of theirs, when they ran into Kakashi.

"Evening, Kakashi-Sensei, what brings you here?" Naruto asked curiously. His team leader seemed fine, so why was he here? Kakashi's visible eye sparkled when he said "Just finished seeing a client. He had to come here for an appointment, so I met him here after that appointment."

Ah, that made sense.

The next thing Kakashi, Naruto, Konohamaru, Udon, and Moegi knew, the sound of a stretcher echoed through the hall. They moved out of the way of the oncoming emergency response that was pushing the stretcher. The blond quickly recognized the person on the stretcher pretty quickly.

It was Lee! And he was in pretty bad shape.

That's when the group heard the sounds of Lee's team trying to keep up with the stretcher, telling the green clad teen to hold on and to stay with them. Team Gai had to stop when the stretcher passed a set of doors. Gai and Tenten were obviously worried, but Neji... Naruto could actually see that the Hyūga seemed very distraught. Neji had his hands covering his mouth and he was visibly shaking.

"What happened?" Kakashi asked as he and Naruto walked up to the group. "Kakashi-sensei, Naruto-kun..." Tenten said when she saw the two while Neji said "Sensei-sama..."

Next thing everyone knew, there was some chirping sound. Naruto looked down to see three finches, hopping and chirping around Neji's feet. 'How'd those get in here?' the blond wondered before he noticed that another finch materialized out of thin air. Apparently, Kakashi saw them too when he asked for Gai, Tenten, and Neji to tell him the whole story and asked what happened to Lee.

So the three did.

They explained that they were doing some training on the Hyūga estate. Explained that Gai offered to treat them to lunch, and that Neji tried to refuse but his father told him to go. So they left the estate to head to where Gai was going to treat them. They explained that some group of bandits thought that Neji was the Hyūga heir and used a flash bomb to kidnap him. They explained how Lee, Tenten, and Gai managed to track them down to their hideaway (wasn't too hard, they left a obvious trail). They explained how Lee volunteered to distract the bandits while Tenten and Gai freed Neji. They also explained how all 15 bandits ganged-up on Lee by using some kind of paralyzing gas and practically beat him to a pulp.

"That was when your Dream Defense awoke?" Kakashi asked as he placed a hand on his protégé's shoulder. Neji sniffed and said in a shaky tone "I-I-I t-told them to s-stop, but..." The Hyūga hiccuped and buried his face into Kakashi's chest. The Dream Empath rubbed his protégé's back, trying to sooth him.

Tenten decided to finish off the explanation "I'm pretty sure that it was Neji's Dream Defense, because the next thing we all realized was that we were surrounded by birds of all kinds." "The raptor birds started attacking all of the bandits a-a-and all of the doves started landing on Lee and turning into bandages," Gai said, trying his best to explain what happened.

Kakashi closed his visible eye and said "Neji, I told you that every Dream Empath's Dream Defense awakens when they NEED it, meaning that they have to feel like they have absolutely no other option in a life-or-death situation. You felt like you had no option when Lee's life was in danger, so your Dream Defense awoke."

Neji hiccuped and said "But..." Kakashi quickly hushed his protégé and said "Lee might be hurt, but he's still alive, and knowing him, he'll be up on his feet before you know it." Tenten thought the older Dream Empath was simply saying that to calm the Hyūga down, but the look in his visible eye told otherwise.

"Why..." Neji asked softly, gripping Kakashi's vest. "Why would he would use his own life to save mine?" the Hyūga added softly. "You are his teammate, and his friend," Gai said with a small smile. The Green Beast knew he couldn't tell the younger Dream Empeth the truth just yet. "He... Considers me a friend? Even after the way I treated him?" Neji asked in a soft curious tone. "Lee has a big heart, a tad naive, but it's in the right place. And I'm pretty sure that heart is what saw you as a friend," Kakashi said placing a hand on the Hyūga's head.

Naruto couldn't help but see the similarity Kakashi had with his own father, but then again... 'Dad was Kakashi's mentor," the blond thought as he watched the older Dream Empath sooth the younger.

The doctor came out of the operating room and told the group that Lee was going to be alright, but because of the nature of the injuries, Lee wasn't going to be able to participate in the Chûnin Exams or go on any missions until he is completely healed. "Gai, don't worry, Lee will be fine. Besides, he can participate in the next Chûnin Exams," Kakashi said, doing his best to prevent Gai from doing one of his overdramatic outbursts.

"He can also watch the final part of this Chûnin Exams, if the doctors give him permission to," Naruto stated with a small smile. Gai calmed down pretty quickly after hearing that.

The finches were chirping happily in the ground.

Kakashi looked at the little birds and said "I'm going to have to restrict your access to your Dream Defense until the Chûnin Exams are done." "Can you do that?" Naruto asked curiously. The blond wasn't all that familiar with this kind of thing, but it seemed weird that the older Dream Empath said he could do what he said he could do. Kakashi glanced at Naruto and said "Yes, but only on certain levels. I cannot make a Dream Defense dormant or erase it, but I can make it so that Neji doesn't accidentally use it during the Chûnin Exams."

Okay, that makes more scenes.

Kakashi gently placed a hand on Neji's head. Both of their eyes closed for a minute or so, before opening them again. The finches faded away slowly into a soft mist before disappearing completely. "There, I can re-awaken it once the Chûnin Exams ends," the older Dream Empath said as he patted the younger on the head. Neji buried his face into Kakashi's chest. The silver haired man turned to his allies and told Naruto and Tenten "I know one of the points of these Exams is to pass, but... Because Neji is a Dream Empath, I need you and the other Konohagakure Genins to protect him as best and as discretely as possible." Tenten and Naruto nodded as the blond said "That will be our #1 priority."

Kakashi knew the blond meant it.

}i{ }i{

Today was the day of the Chūnin Exams...

Kurenai's Team, Asuma's Team, Gai's Team, and Kakashi's team were standing outside the building where the start of the Exams was being held. Minato and Kushina were there too, telling the four teams do their best, and also telling their son not to step on any toe of the visiting teams. "Mom, Dad, I'm not going to do anything like that," Naruto said with a pout, causing the other Genins to snicker (well, minus Shino and Sasuke).

The 4th Hokage noticed the bags under the younger Uchiha's eyes and asked "Sasuke-kun, did you get enough sleep last night?" Kakashi placed a hand on the Uchiha's shoulder and said "Just an unpleasant nightmare." Sasuke looked up at the older Dream Empath when he said "They're not that bad at the moment, but I want you to come to me if that nightmare comes back or gets worse." The Uchiha understood.

Asuma told his team to actually try during the Exams, Kurenai told her team to remember their basic training, and Gai told his team to attack the challenge with youthful energy.

With that, the four teams entered the building.

}i{ }i{

To be Continued...

}i{ }i{


End file.
